Some Metaphors for Reading
Some Metaphors for Reading
This chapter explores how the production and transmission of scribally published texts were perceived by their original readers to differ from printed and oral texts. It considers drawing on the insights of Walter J. Ong and Jacques Derrida — how the oral, the chirographical, and the printed text each presuppose their own distinct modes of knowing. It then examines these theoretically derived predictions against a range of figurative formulations of the acts of reading and inscription actually current during the seventeenth century. Lastly, it considers the role played by the handwritten text in the constitution of ‘fictions of state’ — those figurative constructs that were invoked to legitimize the exercise of political authority.
Keywords: Derrida, Ong, oral texts, printed texts, seventeenth century, political authority, fictions of state
Oxford Scholarship Online requires a subscription or purchase to access the full text of books within the service. Public users can however freely search the site and view the abstracts and keywords for each book and chapter.
Please, subscribe or login to access full text content.
If you think you should have access to this title, please contact your librarian.
To troubleshoot, please check our FAQs , and if you can't find the answer there, please contact us .