Writing
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
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| + | [[Image:The Death of Marat by Jacques-Louis David (1793).jpg|thumb|left|200px|''[[The Death of Marat]]'' (1793) by Jacques-Louis David]] | ||
| + | {| class="toccolours" style="float: left; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 2em; font-size: 85%; background:#c6dbf7; color:black; width:30em; max-width: 40%;" cellspacing="5" | ||
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| + | "He who first shortened the labor of [[Copyist]]s by device of ''[[movable type|Movable Types]]'' was disbanding hired Armies, and cashiering most Kings and Senates, and creating a whole new [[Democratic]] world: he had invented the Art of [[Printing]]."--''[[Sartor Resartus]]'' (1836) by Thomas Carlyle | ||
| + | <hr> | ||
| + | "O most ingenious [[Thoth |Theuth]] ... you who are the father of [[letter (alphabet)|letters]] ... this discovery of yours will create [[Forgetting|forgetfulness]] in the learners' souls, because they will not use their [[memory|memories]]; they will trust to the [[writing|external written characters]] and not remember of themselves. The specific which you have discovered is an aid not to memory, but to reminiscence, and you give your disciples not truth, but only the semblance of truth."--[[ Phaedrus (dialogue)|''Phaedrus'']] by Plato | ||
| + | <hr> | ||
| + | "[W]ith the woodcut graphic art became mechanically reproducible for the first time, long before [[script]] became reproducible by [[print]]. The enormous changes which printing, the mechanical reproduction of [[writing]], has brought about in literature are a familiar story. However, within the phenomenon which we are here examining from the perspective of world history, print is merely a special, though particularly important, case." --"[[The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction]]" (1935) by Walter Benjamin | ||
| + | <hr> | ||
| + | "My task which I am trying to achieve is, by the power of the [[Writing |written word]], to make you hear, to make you feel — it is, before all, to make you ''see''".--''[[The Nigger of the "Narcissus"]]'' (1897) by Joseph Conrad | ||
| + | <hr> | ||
| + | "The history of the various [[writing systems|primitive graphic system]]s, such as the [[Chinese language|Chinese]], the [[Cuneiform]], or the [[Egyptian language|Egyptian]], shows that the [[art of writing]] has invariably begun with [[hieroglyphic]] [[ideogram]]s, slowly developed into [[Phonogram (linguistics)|phonograms]], and passing gradually through [[syllabism]] towards [[alphabetism]], the successive stages of the process occupying in every instance vast periods of time."--''[[The History of the Alphabet]]'' (1899) by Isaac Taylor | ||
| + | |} | ||
| + | [[Image:Alle Weissheit ist bey Gott dem Herrn...by anonymous.jpg |thumb|right|200px|''[[Alle Weissheit ist bey Gott dem Herrn...]]'', informal title of a calligraphy of the [[Sirach]] by an anonymous artist]] | ||
| + | [[Image:Charles Baudelaire.jpg|thumb|right|200px|[[Charles Baudelaire]]]] | ||
| + | [[Image:The Poor Poet by Carl Spitzweg.jpg|thumb|200px|''[[The Poor Poet]]'' (1839) is a painting by Carl Spitzweg]] | ||
| {{Template}} | {{Template}} | ||
| - | :''[[literature]], [[reading]], [[letter]]'' | + | '''Writing''' is a complex [[neuropsychology|neuropsychological]] [[Action (philosophy)|activity]] involving [[cognition|cognitive]] and physical processes and the use of one or more [[writing system]]s to structure and translate volatile human thoughts into persistent representations of human [[language]]. A system of writing relies on many of the same [[semantics|semantic]] structures as the language it represents, such as [[lexicon]] and [[syntax]], with the added dependency of a system of symbols representing that language's [[phonology]] and [[Morphology (linguistics)|morphology]]. Nevertheless, written languages in the course of inscription may take on characteristics distinctive from any available in spoken language. |
| - | '''Writing''', in its most common sense, is the preservation and the preserved text on a [[medium]], with the use of [[sign]]s or [[symbol]]s. In that regard, it is to be distinguished from [[illustrating]] such as [[cave drawing]]s and [[painting]]s on the one hand, and [[author]]ing such as [[tape recording]]s, and [[film]] or [[movies]], on the other. Writing was first invented by the ancient [[Mesopotamians]]. | + | |
| + | The outcome of this activity, also called "writing," and sometimes a "[[Text (literary theory)|text]]," is a series of [[Handwriting|physically inscribed]], [[Printing press|mechanically transferred]], or [[digital data|digitally represented]] linguistic [[symbol]]s. The interpreter or activator of a text is called a ''reader''. | ||
| + | |||
| + | The writing systems humans deploy do not themselves constitute human languages (with the debatable exception of [[computer language]]s); they are a means of rendering language into a form that can be reconstructed by other humans separated by time and/or space. While not all languages use a writing system, those that do can complement and extend capacities of [[spoken language]] by creating durable forms of language that can be transmitted across space (e.g. [[Letter (message)|written correspondence]]) and stored over time (e.g. [[libraries]] or other public records). It has also been observed that the activity of writing itself can have knowledge-transforming effects, since it allows humans to externalize their thinking in forms that are easier to reflect on, elaborate, reconsider, and revise. | ||
| == Historical significance of writing systems == | == Historical significance of writing systems == | ||
| Historians draw a distinction between [[prehistory]] and [[history]], with history defined by the advent of writing. The [[cave painting]]s and petroglyphs of prehistoric peoples can be considered precursors of writing, but are not considered writing because they did not represent language directly. | Historians draw a distinction between [[prehistory]] and [[history]], with history defined by the advent of writing. The [[cave painting]]s and petroglyphs of prehistoric peoples can be considered precursors of writing, but are not considered writing because they did not represent language directly. | ||
| - | ==Importance of movable type== | ||
| - | All excerpts on [[movable type]] printing and writing in Walter Benjamin's [[WAAMR]]. | ||
| - | :[W]ith the woodcut graphic art became mechanically reproducible for the first time, long before script became reproducible by print. The enormous changes which printing, the mechanical reproduction of writing, has brought about in literature are a familiar story. However, within the phenomenon which we are here examining from the perspective of world history, print is merely a special, though particularly important, case. --The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction (1935/1936) - Walter Benjamin | ||
| - | |||
| - | :[L]ithography enabled graphic art to illustrate everyday life, and it began to keep pace with printing. [in its ability to keep up with the speed of writing. --The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction (1935/1936) - Walter Benjamin | ||
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| - | :[F]or centuries a small number of writers were confronted by many thousands of readers. This changed toward the end of the last century. With the increasing extension of the press, which kept placing new political, religious, scientific, professional, and local organs before the readers, an increasing number of readers became writers - at first, occasional ones. It began with the daily press opening to its readers space for 'letters to the editor.' And today there is hardly a gainfully employed European who could not, in principle, find an opportunity to publish somewhere or other comments on his work, grievances, documentary reports, or that sort of thing. Thus, the distinction between author and public is about to lose its basic character. The difference becomes merely functional; it may vary from case to case. At any moment the reader is ready to turn into a writer.] --The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction (1935/1936) - Walter Benjamin | ||
| - | |||
| - | See also: Prehistory - history - recording - writing | ||
| - | |||
| - | Graphocentrism | ||
| == Namesakes == | == Namesakes == | ||
| - | *''[[Writing on Drugs]]'' | + | *''[[Writing on Drugs]]'', 1999, Sadie Plant |
| + | *''[[Writing Degree Zero]]'', 1953, Roland Barthes | ||
| + | ==See also== | ||
| + | *[[Effects of movable type printing on culture]] | ||
| + | *[[Walter Benjamin on the importance of printing and movable type ]] | ||
| *[[Constrained writing]] | *[[Constrained writing]] | ||
| *[[Automatic writing]] | *[[Automatic writing]] | ||
| - | *[[Women's writing in English]] | + | *[[Graffiti]] |
| - | *[[Writing process]] | + | *[[Graphocentrism]] |
| - | *''[[The Writing of the Disaster]]'' | + | *[[Literature]] |
| - | *''[[Writing and Difference]]'' | + | *[[Reading]] |
| - | *''[[Writing Degree Zero]]'' | + | *[[Letter (alphabet)]] |
| - | *[[Travel writing]] | + | *[[Manuscript culture]] |
| - | + | *[[Writing about music is like dancing about architecture]] | |
| {{GFDL}} | {{GFDL}} | ||
Current revision
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"He who first shortened the labor of Copyists by device of Movable Types was disbanding hired Armies, and cashiering most Kings and Senates, and creating a whole new Democratic world: he had invented the Art of Printing."--Sartor Resartus (1836) by Thomas Carlyle "O most ingenious Theuth ... you who are the father of letters ... this discovery of yours will create forgetfulness in the learners' souls, because they will not use their memories; they will trust to the external written characters and not remember of themselves. The specific which you have discovered is an aid not to memory, but to reminiscence, and you give your disciples not truth, but only the semblance of truth."--Phaedrus by Plato "[W]ith the woodcut graphic art became mechanically reproducible for the first time, long before script became reproducible by print. The enormous changes which printing, the mechanical reproduction of writing, has brought about in literature are a familiar story. However, within the phenomenon which we are here examining from the perspective of world history, print is merely a special, though particularly important, case." --"The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction" (1935) by Walter Benjamin "My task which I am trying to achieve is, by the power of the written word, to make you hear, to make you feel — it is, before all, to make you see".--The Nigger of the "Narcissus" (1897) by Joseph Conrad "The history of the various primitive graphic systems, such as the Chinese, the Cuneiform, or the Egyptian, shows that the art of writing has invariably begun with hieroglyphic ideograms, slowly developed into phonograms, and passing gradually through syllabism towards alphabetism, the successive stages of the process occupying in every instance vast periods of time."--The History of the Alphabet (1899) by Isaac Taylor |
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Writing is a complex neuropsychological activity involving cognitive and physical processes and the use of one or more writing systems to structure and translate volatile human thoughts into persistent representations of human language. A system of writing relies on many of the same semantic structures as the language it represents, such as lexicon and syntax, with the added dependency of a system of symbols representing that language's phonology and morphology. Nevertheless, written languages in the course of inscription may take on characteristics distinctive from any available in spoken language.
The outcome of this activity, also called "writing," and sometimes a "text," is a series of physically inscribed, mechanically transferred, or digitally represented linguistic symbols. The interpreter or activator of a text is called a reader.
The writing systems humans deploy do not themselves constitute human languages (with the debatable exception of computer languages); they are a means of rendering language into a form that can be reconstructed by other humans separated by time and/or space. While not all languages use a writing system, those that do can complement and extend capacities of spoken language by creating durable forms of language that can be transmitted across space (e.g. written correspondence) and stored over time (e.g. libraries or other public records). It has also been observed that the activity of writing itself can have knowledge-transforming effects, since it allows humans to externalize their thinking in forms that are easier to reflect on, elaborate, reconsider, and revise.
Historical significance of writing systems
Historians draw a distinction between prehistory and history, with history defined by the advent of writing. The cave paintings and petroglyphs of prehistoric peoples can be considered precursors of writing, but are not considered writing because they did not represent language directly.
Namesakes
- Writing on Drugs, 1999, Sadie Plant
- Writing Degree Zero, 1953, Roland Barthes
See also
- Effects of movable type printing on culture
- Walter Benjamin on the importance of printing and movable type
- Constrained writing
- Automatic writing
- Graffiti
- Graphocentrism
- Literature
- Reading
- Letter (alphabet)
- Manuscript culture
- Writing about music is like dancing about architecture
