We tend to think of literature as something that’s written down. But Martin Puchner is interested in cases where the spoken word precedes, coexists with or even comes after the written word. From Ancient Greece to medieval Mali to Stalinist Russia, he explores why certain literary artists have preferred speech to writing. By understanding why and when these artists relied on speech, Martin argues that we can better appreciate their written works too.
Bonus clip
Click here to listen to Martin explain what Confucius’s bamboo mat can tell us about his teachings. And click here to listen to one of Martin’s favorite performances of the Epic of Sundiata.
Works mentioned
– Plato, Phaedo
– Anna Akhamova, Requiem
Further reading
Martin Puchner at The Atlantic – The Technological Shift Behind the World’s First Novel
Brad Leithauser at The New Yorker – Why We Should Memorize
Justin E H Smith at Aeon – How philosophy came to disdain the wisdom of oral cultures
Rita Ray at BBC News – Africa’s musical crusaders: New generation of griots
Short talk by Walter Ong on Oral Cultures and Early Writing