Orality

Orality as a term is often used to contrast societies that have no writing technology with literate societies and cultures. Yet the dichotomy of orality and literacy is in many ways artificial. In communication studies, orality more commonly refers to a kind of osmosis between textual and oral spheres. Shifts in the history of communication—such as the rise of writing, print, electronic and digital media—can be analyzed from the perspective of the changing nature and characteristics of oral influences on written texts.