This Article Full Text (PDF) References Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in Web of Science Alert me to new issues of the journal Add to Saved Citations Download to citation manager Request Permissions Request Reprints Add to My Marked Citations Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Citing Articles via Scopus Google Scholar Articles by Honeycutt, L. Search for Related Content Social Bookmarking                         What's this?

Literacy and the Writing Voice

The Intersection of Culture and Technology in Dictation

Iowa State University

This article provides a cultural-historical analysis of dictation as a composing method in Western history. Drawing on Ong’s concept of secondary orality, the analysis shows how dictation’s shifting role as a form of literacy has been influenced by the dual mediation of technological tools and existing cultural practices. At the dawn of modernism, a series of technological, economic, and philosophical factors converged to promote silent forms of individual authorship over collaborative modes of dictation favored in late antiquity and the Middle Ages. Similar changes are taking place today and may help reverse the dominance of silent authorship. If voice-recognition technologies continue to improve in the future, they may help professional communicators bridge the spoken and textual realms and effect changes in our attitudes toward authorship and orality.

Key Words: dictation • literacy • mnemonic techniques • orality • voice recognition

Journal of Business and Technical Communication, Vol. 18, No. 3, 294-327 (2004)
DOI: 10.1177/1050651904264105


CiteULike    Complore    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    Twitter    What's this?