ABSTRACT
It has been pointed out that one of the persistent delusions of the literate is that the non-literate are dispossessed. We are the children of Ramus. In consequence, a considerable effort of detachment is required of us before we can understand that the prospect of literacy may appear somewhat alarming to an oral culture. On the positive side, writing offers the possibility of a new and effective medium of communication which, by provid ing a visible and lasting counterpart of speech, apparently enables it to transcend ephemerality and to conquer space and time. Writing seems to make speech permanent and portable.
