From Literacy To Orality:the Study Of Sherlock Holmes On Media Ecology

Throughout history,the development of media has run through the entire human civilization,the evolution of the media has shaped the media environment and thus influenced the social culture.The same is true of the classic image Sherlock Holmes.Not only is the novel Sherlock Holmes a famous book around the world,but television series Sherlock Holmes also makes a brilliant achievement.The success of "Sherlock Holmes" is not an accident,but is closely related to the current media culture.Media ecology focuses on the macro-media environment and views the problem from an environmental perspective.It believes that the media has shaped the media environment to a certain extent,which in turn is influenced by the media environment.This thesis takes Sherlock Holmes as the research object from the perspective of two kinds of media,literature and orality,which are based on the theory of media ecology,combing the development processes of these media,comparing the similarities and differences of media culture which are created by different media,and analyzing Sherlock Holmes' novel text and television series text which show different characteristics in these processes as a consequence.This article takes Walter Ong's polarized distinction between orality and literacy as the research logic.Firstly,it integrates and contrasts the definitions and recognition of orality and literacy,from the perspective of media ecology' scholars.It interprets and contrasts two media cultures of the orality and literacy,in order to demonstrate the the influence of media on shaping of media culture.Secondly,based on the text as a medium and the characteristics of literacy,analyzes the novel text of the Sherlock Holmes.In addition,Walter Ong believes that the electronic age also inherits the characteristics of the ancient orality.Based on this theory,taking the English television series Sherlock Holmes as an example,this part of this thesis analyzes the orality characteristics which is embodied in the television series text.Last but not least,it quotes the scholar of media ecology,Neil Postman's metaphor of the media,examines and reflects the subtle influence on culture in the form ofentertainment on the media.It also warns that although our media has played an inestimable role in social modernization,we are being mediated in the current situation of cultural surrender to technology.While shaping the culture and the environment,we are gradually becoming a species that entertains to death.