The Textualization of the Greek Alphabet by Roger D. Woodard - 9781107028111

Name: The Textualization of the Greek Alphabet by Roger D. Woodard - 9781107028111
Brand: Cambridge University Press

Cambridge University Press

The Textualization of the Greek AlphabetAuthor(s): Roger D. Woodard\nFormat: Hardback\nPublisher: Cambridge University Press, United Kingdom\nImprint: Cambridge University Press\nISBN-13: 9781107028111, 978-1107028111\nSynopsis\nIn this book, Roger D. Woodard argues that when the Greeks first began to use the alphabet, they viewed themselves as participants in a performance phenomenon conceptually modeled on the performances of the oral poets. Since a time older than Greek antiquity, the oral poets of Indo-European tradition had been called 'weavers of words' - their extemporaneous performance of poetry was 'word weaving'. With the arrival of the new technology of the alphabet and the onset of Greek literacy, the very act of producing written symbols was interpreted as a comparable performance activity, albeit one in which almost everyone could participate, not only the select few. It was this new conceptualization of and participation in performance activity by the masses that event.