Orality-Literacy Studies and the Unity of the Human Race
Abstract
At the end of a symposium and volume such as this, with its array of varied and brilliant papers, it is difficult to know what to say by way of conclusion other than to express my heartfelt thanks to the impressive contributors in this symposium-festschrift and to its superb organizers. One thing that I am convinced should not be done is to try to summarize the many papers presented and the discussions following them. We have had our say on these matters already. I do not want to be in the position of the speaker who announced, "I am afraid that I have spoken about these matters all too long, so please let me conclude once more." What I shall try to do is to generalize out of all the thought provoking papers we have heard and to say something about orality literacy studies themselves as a whole. I shall have the temerity to generalize as widely as possible, for I have chosen as my subject nothing less than "Orality-Literacy Studies and the Unity of the Human Race." I do believe that what we have been about speaks in its own special way to the subject of human unity which is so urgent in our war-ridden and even war-mongering times.
Citation
Oral Tradition, 2/1 (1987): 371-82.
Rights
OpenAccess.
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