Ensaio TeóricoCânone e Escrita: Sobre Oralidade e a Estilização da Palavra
How is it that calligraphy has assumed such an important position among the Fine Arts in certain countries? There are contingent and instrumental reasons for this, such as the fact that bureaucracy plays a central role as a cultural agent, or the element that certain classical works hold a status of...
Saved in:
| Published in: | Review of Culture |
|---|---|
| Main Author: | |
| Format: | Articles |
| Published: |
Instituto Cultural de Macau
2020
|
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.icm.gov.mo/rc/viewer/pdfViewerParts/40063/3994 |
| Summary: | How is it that calligraphy has assumed such an important position among the Fine Arts in certain countries? There are contingent and instrumental reasons for this, such as the fact that bureaucracy plays a central role as a cultural agent, or the element that certain classical works hold a status of sacrality (or semi-sacrality). The present essay, moreover, concerns itself with a more structural reason, namely the disproportionate influence of the written word in relation to the spoken one, a situation more or less widespread across the high cultures of the world. In this context, an important difference between the Western Canon and, for example, that of China lies in the different values attributed to orality, that is, to the contribution made by the oral transmission of stories, knowledge, and wisdom. In the case of the West, considering the process of creation and re-creation of the Canon, there is a constant tension between new linguistic contributions and tradition, represented by the "life cycle" of its classical languages. In the case of China, on the other hand, the absolute authority of the classical language, and its relative stability over millennia, has served as a barrier to the entry of innovative (and heterogeneous) elements. Against this backdrop, it becomes understandable why, under contemporary linguistic change theory, the works of the Western Canon may be subject to revision. |
|---|---|
| ISSN: | 1682-1106 |