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The Evolution of Pictographs
I believe we are primarily an oral culture. I will show why we prefer pictographs, and pictographic logic over textual and literate culture; and how that ties into visual communication. I will start with per-historic man explaining the important uses and meanings of pictographic logic in his oral culture. Following that, I will point out how and why pictographs were so commonplace in the literate culture; of historic man, in the ancient Near East. And finally, why post-historic man’s use of pictographs developed into a visual form of oral communication: interrelating to pre-historic man’s cultural experiences; and is revolutionizing how we view our world today. We depend on visual communication in our oral culture as our main form of communication, because we value global information immediacy, as we strive to attain the whole picture.
Pre-historic man had no writing. His knowledge of the world was derived from his immediate surroundings, including the people around him, his own memory and external experiences. In his world, tighter kinship associations and closer interactions with them were survival requisites. Body language played an important role as a descriptive tool, necessary for story-telling, spiritual practices and sharing information of short travels. Memorization was relied on to retain all knowledge, so it could be passed down to future generations.
They had to depend on each other for everything. It was all about working together and contributing to the needs of the group. Homogeneity was paramount to group solidarity. There were no cultural differences. It wouldn’t have been possible, or allowed, as there was no internal concepts of self or individuality. Everyone had to fit into society. Understanding one another through verbal or oral communication was not a problem in these tight-knit communities, because there were no language barriers.
“But man began making images and keeping symbolic records more than 25,000 years before the invention of true writing” (p. 5). (Crowley & Heyer, 1978, p. 5). Bone tools with engravings and notations have been found from France to Hungary. The earliest dates back to 30,000 B.C. Some were used for hunting or symbols of hunting. Others are thought to have been used as symbols of fertility or art. Cave paintings were more than just drawings, they were deeply meaningful. The earliest forms of pictographs were used in hunting rituals and to record the number of successful hunts, and possibly to keep track of the birth cycles of animals, such as horses. – a pre-historic form of accounting.
Historic man is defined by the invention of writing about 5,000 years ago. Some of the earliest known forms of writing are: Hieroglyphics and cuneiform found in the Middle East. Writing, itself, created an internal thought process. As a result, body language for descriptive purposes became less necessary over the centuries. Papyrus eventually replaced clay tablets and stone as a writing medium, because its light weight was easier to transport. The brush, likewise, replaced the chisel and literally reshaped the written symbols: through its speed and brush stoke, Sanskrit developed – replacing cuneiform. The pictographs of this era in human civilization, served a similar purpose to those of pre-historic man. “Most scholars now accept that writing began with accountancy” (p. 38), (Crowley & Heyer, 1978, p. 38), as pre-historic pictographs suggest. In the ancient Middle East, pictographs were used on clay tokens for counting purposes. Inevitably these pictographs evolved into various forms of signage. This made communication and commerce over great distances not only possible, but efficient.
Faster communication allowed civilizations to expand into new territories. As writing became less time-consuming and less expensive, it was expanded to the common man. No longer was it reserved for the hierarchy, priest and scribes. Writing schools opened throughout the region. As reading and writing expanded, people’s minds expanded.
Thought process evolved from the external experiences to internal dialogue. Abstract thought allowed people to think for themselves, and gain a sense of individualism. With speed of communication came increased knowledge and transmigration. People became less dependent on, and less connected to their communities, and each other, for survival and social interaction. But their humanity and morality remained intact.
Plato thought reading would make man socially introverted: changing man’s character or personality in a sense; because reading is an individual endeavor; it doesn’t require interaction with others and weakens man’s ability to remember. I agree that reading is an individual experience, but I don’t agree that it is a negative one. Textual and literate culture tapped into historic man’s greatest resource – his mind; thus changing humankind from a primarily oral culture to a literate one.
Post-historic man has combined the best of both cultures. He has successfully tied the meanings and purposes, of symbolism and pictographs, in oral culture; with the practicality and efficiency of literary culture, by standardizing the use of pictographs; in accounting, business and all areas of our daily lives. Post historic man has experienced the benefits of these precursors to visual communication. The speed of communication and information through contemporary media, and use of pictographic symbols, has increased our demand for global information immediacy.
The modern media, associated with writing, produced the cinema. Cinema gave us back narration through sound, pace, rhythm and editing. As a group experience, it connects us socially as pre-historic man was connected socially. This led the way to haptic media, which require our bodies to navigate them. Visual communication is associated with oral communication as a direct result of its global immediacy, and recognizability. Graphics are a faster form of communication and more easily understood. It is reducing language barriers, because it is broader than linguistics. It seems as though graphics with modern technology as its medium, are reinventing language itself. By doing so, we connect and depend on our global community. As our new community grows inward, man’s thought process is being drawn outward. As in pre-history, post history man will have to think externally: and acknowledge his immediate surrounding, this time, is the world. And once again we will have to depend on our global community for humankind’s survival. Therefore, as in the Ice Age, I believe our post-historic culture is a predominately oral.
In this essay I explained why we are primarily an oral culture. I showed why we prefer pictographic logic over literate culture. Using per-historic man as an example, I explained the uses and values of pictographic logic in his oral culture. Then I pointed out how and why pictographs were so commonplace in the literate culture of historic man. And last, why post-historic man’s use of pictographs developed into a visual form of oral communication: similar to pre-historic man’s oral cultural. I believe this argument leaves no doubt: we are an oral culture that is dominated by visual communication; because we value global information immediacy so highly.
References Page
Crowley, D., & Heyer, P. (1978). Communication in history: Technology, culture, society.
New York: Pearson Education, Inc.
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ReplyDeleteSummary: We are a visual society and depend on the immediacy of this form of communication.
Lee argues that we a visual society, in that we value the speed of visualization. He gives the example of memorization and how it “was relied upon to retain knowledge so it could be passed down to future generations.” The facts are only as good the person’s memory recalling the facts, in addition as long as they are alive. After they are no longer with us the stories in their heads will no longer be the same. It is like with the game telephone; I say one thing in your ear and you say it in the next person’s ear until it comes full circle. When I originally said ‘double tall, extra hot, skinny, half caf mocha’ I hear back ‘double skinny, extra tall, mocha, hot’. While both are a hot drink they are very different indeed, and if it were written down there would be no error in the reading.
Derrida’s big claim backs up my idea that our society is textual and says “there is nothing outside of the text.” By saying this he means it cannot be documented unless it has been documented. We read body language and text; it all leads back to reading and interpretation.
We are a textual society and want documentation for everything. We constantly ask, “Can I have that in writing?” Writing it down makes it real, accurate, and long lasting; much longer than a person’s memory. Our society needs documentation for validation. For example we need a picture ID, or passport for identification. We write checks, and always want a receipt. Our society places priority in the in black and white and daily uses written forms of communication to defend and substantiate our position.