Orality, literacy, and the representation of thought
Journal: Writing & Pedagogy
Subject Areas: Writing and Composition Linguistics
DOI: 10.1558/wap.33544
Abstract:
Oral traditions have been limited in their ability to present the full range of a character’s experiences, focusing for the most part on overt actions rather than a character’s inner thoughts. The invention of writing has given writers the ability to reach a distant and often unknown audience and the leisure to mold language in new ways. Writers have thus acquired the ability to place a reader inside a character’s thoughts, either as they are experienced from the inside with mimesis, or by commenting on them omnisciently from the outside with diegesis. Examples are provided of each method of presentation.
Author: Wallace Chafe
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