A Research On Walter J. Ong’s Communication Theories

Walter J. Ong, as the core figure of the second generation of Media Ecology Association of Communication, is well-known for his studies on Oral culture and Peter Ramus, the Medieval Scholar of Humanities. He considered Orality and Literacy as important media and he thoughtthe two media had exerted an profound influence on culture and human consciousness. Furthermore, he formed his own unique theory and thought of the Media Ecology. The train of thought of Ong’s research of Media accords with the basic theory of Media Ecology Association which becomes the construction of the basic framework of media theory. The related theory of orality and literary put forward by some scholars of Media Ecology Association has inspired Ong to explore his thoughts of media.Ong, from the angle of psychological dynamics, divides Oral culture into two categories, primary and secondary. Ong prospectively compares primary orality and literary one by one and systematically points out nine features. Electronic age is the secondary orality age. Secondary orality is not the real conversation between people, but a virtual, simulation and is made of a kind of language- visual-sound sensation, a public conversation whose carriers are film, radio, television, telephone and network. Comparing secondary and primary orality, Ong puts forward the four aspects of the differences and relations.For literary, O ng considers written words has promoted the higher internalized awareness of human. The journey from orality to literary is the evolution process of the modernization of human consciousness. While written words bring text from voice space dominated by ears to visual space dominated by eyes, printing is the reason to fix text into visual symbol.Ong’s media thought also has disadvantages, such as his bipolarity division of orality and literary is too absolutize, and his words technicalization thought also exaggerated, furthermore, his thoughts has theory shadow from media determinism and voice egocentrism.The main theoretical contribution of O ng is the unique, intensive and comprehensive and in-depth discussion of orality and literary. Many of the thoughts have extensive influence on the communication circle and important reference value for people to observe the current media conditions.