The Art of Orality

Cultural Aesthetics in the Absence of Writing

Declan Lloyd

• Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan
• Year: 2025
• Print ISBN:
  9783031854309
• eBook ISBN:
  9783031854316
• Topic: Art
• Subtopic: History of Contemporary Art

This book considers how the presence or absence of writing can influence a culture’s distinctive styles of visual art, proposing that many of the most profound developments in the art world are directly correlative with a cultural transition from orality to literacy (that is, from a culture which only has a spoken form of language, to one which has both a spoken and written form). The study contemplates how the ‘psychodynamics’ of orality might radically affect artistic expression, resulting in a range of visual traits which in many ways reflect the unique modes of speech within primary oral societies. Looking to the art of a diverse range of cultures and time periods – including Archaic Greek art, medieval art, African tribal art, child art, Outsider art and Modern art – The Art of Orality considers what new insights can be gleaned by bringing these styles into dialogue with orality and literacy studies.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Front Matter
• 1. Introduction: Unifying Orality, Literacy and Art
• 2. ‘The Great Awakening’: The Greek Revolution in Art and Orality
• 3. ‘A Curious Mixture’: Medieval Art and the Question of Orality
• 4. ‘The Style Most Perfect’: Tribal Art and Orality
• 5. ‘An Enviable Freedom’: Child Art and Orality
• 6. ‘A Pure and Elementary State’: Outsider Art and Orality
• 7. ‘The Kingdom Where Each of Us Reigns’: Julian Jaynes, Art and Orality
• 8. ‘Primordially Eternal’: Modern Art and Orality
• 9. Conclusion: The Future of Art and Orality
• Back Matter