Literacy in Traditional Societies

The importance of writing as a means of communication in a society formerly without it, or where writing has been confined to particular groups, is enormous. It objectifies speech, provides language with a material correlative, and in this material form speech can be transmitted over space and preserved over time. In this book the contributors discuss cultures at different levels of sophistication and literacy and examine the importance of writing on the development of these societies. All the articles except the first were specially written for this book and the extensive introduction unites and synthesizes the material.

Introduction Jack Goody; 1. The consequences of literacy Jack Goody and Ian Watt; 2. Implications of literacy in traditional China and India Kathleen Gough; 3. Literacy in a Buddhist village in North-East Thailand S. J. Tambiah; 4. Literacy in Kerala Kathleen Gough; 5. The transmission of Islamic learning in the Western Sudan Ivor Wilks; 6. Restricted literacy in Northern Ghana Jack Goody; 7. Literacy in a Nomadic Society: the Somali case I. M. Lewiss; 8. Astrology and writing in Madagascar Maurice Bloch; 9. Uses of literacy in New Guinea and Melanesia M. Meggitt; 10. The measurement of literacy in pre-industrial England R. S. Schofield; Bibliography; Index.