Since the beginning of this quarter, my understanding of what literacy is and how it impacts society has changed greatly from the generalized beliefs that I began with. Although I knew about oral cultures and the knowledge that they could pass on, how facts could still be preserved despite minor changes in the story. I learned about Hindu tradition after taking an online class here at DePaul, and it discussed how all of the stories that preserved Hindu culture were originally only oral. These stories had the power to shape what people believed in, and it varied from place to place. Even knowing this, learning about prejudices in the Western World, has made me especially aware about how I thought about oral countries.
I no longer mindlessly accept the idea that when writing is introduced into a culture that it immediately improves it, instead I stop and think about what purpose it might serve in said cultures society. I think that it is a tool that when society is correctly positioned, can help it grow. Literacy and the written word can do wonders for people, but only if the society is ready to accept it. Additionally, if a society is undergoing industrialization literacy has less chances of growing. All of these ideas taken together has led me to be more critical about how the world perceives literacy.
