Scribal Literacy Paper

Emily Miller

Theories & Modes of Literacy

Barbara Gleason, Professor

11-17-15

Scribal Literacy and Modern Day Implications

    Why is it important to know the history of reading and writing? From a historical and cultural perspective, it is fascinating to trace the origins of literacy from the Mesopotamian tablets of the 12th century BC to the modern day e-reader. From a critical, economic and political perspective it is interesting to note the trends and consider who had access to written material, who decided what was to be recorded and read and what was the relationship was between wealth, power and literacy. As educators I think it is imperative to acknowledge that books and education from the beginning of time were not available to all people. The predominant present day notion that all children are entitled to an education takes on new meaning when you consider that reading material was unattainable by anyone other than clergy and the elite for many centuries. For me, the exposure to early texts and a brief overview of the history of literacy over the past few weeks in this course has been a journey of enlightenment as well as disillusionment.

    The chapters from A History of Reading by Alberto Manguel offer a glimpse into the early reading habits and styles of third century readers.  The chapter, “The Silent Readers,” opens with a surprised St. Augustine witnessing an unusual sight – that of the bishop Ambrose reading silently. Manguel offers this anecdote: “ ‘When he read,’ said Augustine, ‘his eyes scanned the page and his heart sought out the meaning, but his voice was silent and his tongue was still’ ”  (Manguel 42). Though there were other early examples of silent reading it was not popular in the West until the 10th century (43). The ancient tablets written in Aramaic and Hebrew were designed to be read aloud. Similarly, Manguel sites an Islamic rule that the Koran must be read “loud enough for the reader to hear it himself…” (46). He summarizes a study by an American psychologist, Julian Jaynes, who theorized that silent reading is a specialized skill which develops later than oral reading (46).  I think it is very significant to point out that because relatively few people could read during this time period, much reading was conducted in a reader/audience format. This accounts for some fascinating features of early scribal writing, which we observed firsthand at the Columbia University Rare Books Library. Dr. Dutschke’s expansive display of medieval manuscripts allowed us to view (and even handle) up close the progression from continuous sentences to separated words and sentences in later texts.  

    In his book, Space Between Words: The Origins of Silent Reading, Paul Saenger traces the evolution of word separation in Western written text to the beginning of the 7th century. This change in the format of writing allowed for silent reading to develop as an alternative to the predominant oral reading practices of earlier centuries. Saenger’s writing is technical and the chapter was difficult for me to decipher, so I was grateful that Dr. Dutschke passed along a review of Saenger’s book by Mark Aronoff. This made it easier for me to grasp the gist of Saenger’s important work. As Aronoff aptly summarizes, “Saenger traces the transition from continuous to word-divided script, which, he contends, reflects a fundamental shift in style from reading aloud to reading silently” (625). I was relieved to learn that few people know that Western languages were for many centuries written in scriptura continua with no separations between words. Relieved because I had never heard or knew of this term or style of writing. Now I have read about it and I have seen and touched manuscripts written in this manner. It is incredible to me that ancient readers could sound out written Greek and Latin without word separators. Apparently, the early written Semitic languages as well as the earliest Greek writings did have separations between words. However, because of the presence of vowels in Greek and Latin, these written languages can be sounded out without word separations and were written in scriptura continua until the late Middle Ages. Aranoff explains that Saenger devotes much of his book to a “detailed exposition of the geographical and historical progress of word separation from Ireland and England across Europe” (626). Saenger’s work is important because it highlights how separating words in writing coincided with not only silent reading, as previously mentioned, but also with personal and private study, resulting in “such intellectual innovations as the textual expression of intimate feelings, innovations in book production, grammatical theory, and the language of mathematics” (Arnoff 626). We were able to see these very types of texts in the Rare Book Library collection. We saw examples of daily journals, early primers, prayer books, and mathematics books. Although they were hundreds of years old and written in Latin, the texts were recognizable because of their format and orientation.

    What was also so striking about the ancient manuscripts on display in the library was the beautiful detail with which they were written and preserved. The greatest of care was taken in their creation and the finest materials were used. The parchment made from animal skin has held up incredibly well and the ink drawings seem as vibrant as ever.  Dr. Dutschke’s enthusiasm and knowledge about the origin and meaning of the various texts really made them come alive for me. The binding techniques and the way scribes cut corners later on by mixing parchment and paper were all so interesting. It is clear that writing and reading was a craft reserved for clergy and the very wealthy. Religious leaders retained their power by being among the very few that knew how to read. Towards the end of the Middle Ages a social revolution disrupted the status quo and literacy was suddenly available to the masses.  

    The invention of the printing press and the English translation of the King James Bible were two major milestones to impact literacy in the Western world during the later Middle Ages. As stated previously, the clergy were among the very few who could read in the early Middle Ages. But as a new culture developed during the Italian Renaissance and spread throughout Western Europe, being able to read was starting to be valued for more than just religious purposes: “Being able to read was now seen as the key to personal fulfillment; to own books was a statement of social status…” (McGrath 7).  Alister McGrath chronicles the progression of literacy during the 15th and 16th centuries in his book In The Beginning: The Story of the King James Bible and How It Changed a Nation, a Language, and a Culture.   I found these chapters easy to follow and his story-like format entertaining. McGrath describes  early wood block printing as the first technique for producing several copies of a text. This type of printing, however, was a short-lived solution to the growing demand for books in Western Europe and not suitable for printing long texts such as the Bible. It was the breakthrough discovery of the printing press by Johannes Gutenberg that changed the way books were produced and expanded their availability. But Gutenberg’s invention was not without its unglamorous backstory.  Because the printing press was viewed as the secret to wealth and success, there was a race to design the technology and to keep it a secret. Along with the invention of the press, Gutenberg developed ink and moveable type, which required large investors for backing. In Gutenberg’s quest for greater recognition and further financial profit he took on the challenge of printing the Bible. It seems likely that the project began in 1449 and was completed in 1456 (McGrath 15). Because Gutenberg wanted to recoup the considerable costs of printing the Bible and also show a profit, he maintained a monopoly on the technology and printed other material on the side, such as indulgences, for which he would collect a healthy sum. He could not keep his secret for long and by the end of the century printed Bibles were all but routine. As McGrath tells it, there was another publishing landmark around the corner: “The translation and publication of the Bible in the living language of Western Europe” (19). This is significant because the Gutenberg Bible was Latin.

    The origin of the King James Bible is still a hot topic today. In fact, there was an article in the New York Times last week announcing the discovery of a notebook thought to hold important clues to the process behind the translation of the King James Bible. There is much debate about how many translators took part in the original translation of the Bible and how they went about their work. The King James Bible was published in 1611 “by six teams of translators, known as ‘companies,’ in London, Oxford and Cambridge, who were charged with creating an authorized version that would support the Church of England against the Puritan influence seen in some earlier translations” (Schuessler C1). The draft that was discovered in the notebook is thought to include sections of the text that were omitted from many editions. This supports the theory that although the companies were expected to work collaboratively, there is evidence that individuals completed at least some of the translations independently. The article refers to a similar debate about whether Shakespeare’s works are authored by a single writer or a group.

What is interesting to me is that the discovery of anything to do with a translation dating back to the 17th century is still front page news. Also remarkable is that the journal is the size of a “modern paperback” and wrapped in vellum, a substance that we saw and held in the Rare Books Library.

    The history of literacy is complex and indeed influenced by many factors. While many of the early manuscripts were reserved for the rich and powerful, technology and the human desire for knowledge has propelled the production of books in many directions, across many lands, languages and genres. It cannot be ignored that the origins of education and literacy catered to the interests and strengths of a specific race, gender and class.  To this day we still hold many of these norms as our standards for all learners. I look forward to examining these principals further in Theories and Models of Literacy.

    

Works Cited

Aronoff, Mark. Reviewed work: Space Between Words: The Origins of Silent Reading.                              Language in Society, Vol. 31, No. 4 (Sept.,2002) pp 624-628. Print.

Manguel, Alberto. A History of Reading. New York: Penguin Books, 1997. Print.

McGrath, Alistair. In the Beginning: The Story of the King James Bible and How it Changed a Nation, a Language and a Culture. New York: Anchor Books, 2001. Print.

Schuessler, Jennifer. “Earliest Known Draft of King James Bible Is Found, Scholar Says.” The New York Times, 14 Oct. 2015: C1. Print.