In Praise of Illiteracy Essay Example Essay Example

In Praise of Illiteracy Essay Example Paper In Praise of Illiteracy Essay Introduction By Hans Magnus Enzensberger This essay was adapted from a talk given by the author and translated from German, which I took from Harper’s Magazine. Can we dispense with the written word? That is the question. Anyone who poses it will have to speak about illiteracy. There’s just one problem: the illiterate is never around when he is the subject of conversation. He simply doesn’t show up; he takes no notice of our assertions; he remains silent. I would therefore like to take up his defense. Every third inhabitant of our planet manages to get by without the art of reading and without the art of writing. This includes roughly 900 million people, and their numbers will certainly increase. The figure is impressive but misleading for Humanity comprises not only the living and the unborn but the dead as well. If they are not forgotten, then the conclusion becomes inevitable that literacy is the exception rather than the rule. It could occur only to us, that is, to a tiny minority of people who read and write, to think of those who don’t as a tiny minority. This notion betrays an ignorance I find insupportable. I envy the illiterate his memory, his capacity for concentration, his cunning, his inventiveness, his tenacity, his sensitive ear. In Praise of Illiteracy Essay Body Paragraphs Please don’t imagine that I am speaking not about romantic phantoms but about people I have met. I am far from idealizing them. I also see their narrow horizons, their illusions, their obstinacy, their quaintness. You may ask how it comes about that a writer should take the side of those who cannot read. But it’s obvious! -Because it was illiterates who invented literature. Its elementary forms-from myth to children’s verse, from fairy tale to song, from prayer to riddle-all are older than writing. Without oral tradition, there would be no poetry; without illiterates, no books. But† you will object, â€Å"what about the Enlightenment? † No need to tell me! Social distress rests not only on the ruler’s material advantages but on immaterial privilege as well. It was the great intellectuals of the eighteenth century who discerned this state of affairs. The people had not come of age, they thought, not only because of political oppression and econ omic exploitation but also because of their lack of knowledge. From these premises, later generations drew the conclusion that the ability to read and write belongs to any existence fit for a human being. However, this suggestive idea underwent a succession of noteworthy reinterpretations in the course of time. In the twinkling of an eye the concept of enlightenment was replaced by the concept of education. â€Å"In terms of the education of the populace,† according to Ignaz Heinrich von Wessenbergm, a German schoolmaster in Napoleon’s time, â€Å"the second half of the eighteenth century marks a new epoch. The knowledge of what was accomplished in this regard is joyous news to any friend of mankind, encouraging to the priests of culture, and highly instructive for the leaders of the commonwealth†. As far as the project of literacy goes, we’ve made great strides. Here, it seems, the philanthropists, the priests of culture, and the leaders of the commonwea lth have scored triumphantly. By 1880, the illiteracy rate in Germany had fallen below one percent. The rest of the world has also made enormous progress since UNESCO raised its flag in the fight against illiteracy in 1951. In short: Light has conquered darkness. Our joy over the triumph has certain limits. The news is too good to be true. The people did not learn to read and write because they felt like it, but because they were forced to do so. Their emancipation was controlled by disenfranchisement. From then on learning went hand in hand with the state and its agencies: the schools, the army, the legal administration. The goal pursued in making the populace literate had nothing to do with enlightenment. The friends of mankind and the priests of culture, who stood up for the people, were merely the henchmen of a capitalist industry that pressed the state to provide it with a qualified workforce. It was not a matter of paving the way for the â€Å"writing culture†, Let alon e liberating mankind from its shackles. Quite a different kind of progress was in question. IT consisted in taming the illiterates, this â€Å"lowest class of men,† in stamping out their will and their fantasy, and in exploiting not only their muscle power and skill in handiwork, but their brains as well. For the unlettered human to be done away with, he had first to be defined, tracked down, and unmasked. The concept of illiteracy is not very old. Its invention can be dated with some precision. The word appeared for the first time in a French publication in 1876 and quickly spread all over Europe. At about the same time, Edison invented the lightbulb and the phonograph, Bell he telephone, and Otto the gasoline motor. The connection is clear. Furthermore, the triumph of popular education in Europe coincides with the maximum development of colonialism. And this is no accident. In the dictionaries of the period we can find the assertion that the number of illiterates â€Å"as compared with the total population of a country is a measure of the people’s cultural condition. † And they do not fail to instruct us that â€Å"men stand on a level higher, on the average, than women. This is not a matter of statistics, but a process of discrimination and stigmatization. Behind the figure of the illiterate we can discern Hitler’s concept of der Untermensch, the subhuman who must be eliminated. A small, radical minority has reserved civilization for itself and now discriminates against all those who will not dance to its tune. Today we find that the illiteracy we smoked out has returned. A new figure has conquered the social stage. This new species is the second-order illiterate. He has come a long way: his loss of memory causes him no suffering; his lack of will makes life easy for him; he values his inability to concentrate; he considers it an advantage that he neither knows nor understands what is happening to him. He is mobile. He is adapti ve. He has a talent for getting things done. We need have no worries about him. It contributes to the second-order illiterate’s sense of well-being that he has no idea that he is a second-order illiterate. He considers himself well-informed; he can decipher instruction s on appliances and tools; he can decode pictograms and checks. And he moves within an environment hermetically sealed against anything that might infect his consciousness. That he might come to grief in this environment is unthinkable. After all, it produced and educated him in order to guarantee its undisturbed continuation. The second order illiterate is the product of a new phase of industrialization. An economy whose problem is no longer production but markets has no need of a disciplined reserve of army of workers. The rigid training to which they were subjected also becomes redundant, and literacy becomes a fetter to be done away with. Simultaneous with the development of this problem, our technology has also developed an adequate solution. The ideal medium for the second-order illiterate is television. The educational policy of the state will have to align itself with the new priorities. By reducing the library budget, a first step has already been taken. And innovations are to be seen in school administration as well. You can go tot school now for eight years without learning German, and even in the universities this German dialect is gradually acquiring the tatus of a poorly mastered foreign language. Please do not suppose hat I would want to polemicize against a situation of whose inevitability I am fully aware. I desire only to portray and, as far as I can, explain it. It would be foolish to contest the second-order illiterate’s raison d etre, and I am far from begrudging him on the pleasures or his place in the sun. On the other hand, it is safe to say that the project of the Enlightenment has failed the slogan â€Å"Culture for Everyone† begins to sound comical . And a classless culture is even further from view. On the contrary: we can look forward to a situation I which cultural castes will become more and more distinct. But these castes can no longer be described by using the traditional Marxist model, according to which the ruling culture is the culture of the rulers. Indeed the divergence between economic position and consciousness will continue to grow. It will become the new rule to see second-order illiterates occupying the top positions in politics and in business. In this connection, it is sufficient to indicate the current president of the United States and the current chancellor of the Federal Republic. On the other hand, you can easily find whole hordes of cabdrivers, newspaper hawkers, manual laborers, and welfare recipients whose thoughtfulness, cultural standards, and wide-ranging knowledge should have taken them far in any other society. But this kind of comparison falls short of portraying the true state of affairs, which admits of no clear analysis. For even among the unemployed you can find zombies; even in the presidential office there are people who can read and write and even think productively. But this also means that in questions of culture social determinism has become obsolete. The so-called privileges of education have lost their fearfulness. If both parents are second-order illiterates, even the wellborn child has no advantage over th worker’s son. One’s cultural cast will hencefoth depend on personal choice, not origin. For all this I conclude that culture in our country has come to an entirely new situation. As for the perennial claim that culture provides a common denominator for all people-that we can simply forget. The rulers, mostly second-order illiterates, have lost all interest in it. As a result , culture cannot, and need not any longer, serve the interests of a ruling class. It no longer legitimates the social order. It has become useless-but there is a kind of f reedom in that. Such a culture is thrown back on its own resouces and the sooner it realizes this the better. Where does all that leave the writer? For some time now it has not been a class privilege-or requirement to be concerned with literature. The victory of the second-order illiterate can only radicalize literature. When it has lost its value as a status symbol, as a social code, as an educational program, then literature will be noticed only by those who can’t do without it. Whoever wants to can bemoan all this. I have no such desire. Weeds have always been a minority, and every city gardener knows how hard it is to do away with them. Literature will continue to thrive as long as it commands a certain agility, a certain cunning, a capacity for concentration and a good memory. As you recall, these are the features of the true illiterate. Perhaps he will have the last word, since he requires no other media than a voice and an ear. http://www. gardensofresistance. com/ed/i lliteracy. html We will write a custom essay sample on In Praise of Illiteracy Essay Example specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on In Praise of Illiteracy Essay Example specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on In Praise of Illiteracy Essay Example specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer

Varnasrama-dharma, the Hindu Caste System

Varnasrama-dharma, the Hindu Caste System Free Online Research Papers This paper will explore the Hindu caste system. Varnasrama-dharma, as applied to the varnas, or castes, is one of the fundamental aspects of Hinduism. Its origins trace back to the 1500’s, when the Aryans invaded India from then Persia. The complex hierarchy was devised as a system to facilitate the subjugation of the conquered tribes. The caste system is based upon the principle that human society is like a complex machine, with individuals and communities as its parts. If the parts are weak, broken, or asked to perform a function it was not designed for, the machine will not work. Likewise, each part has its place and function; no part can do the job of another, and all must keep their place for the machine to function smoothly. This Dharma, our place within and duty to the machine of society, is not just essential to our happiness, but the happiness of all. Hindu society is traditionally divided into four main castes, with each main caste divided into hundreds of sub-castes, or jati. The function of these castes is to quantify how ‘pure’ a person is, and thus how close he is to reaching Moksha, or enlightenment. Being born to a higher caste is an indication that one had lived one’s previous lives in a holy manner. As a result, the higher castes must live holy lives themselves, or they will regress to a lower caste in their next life; or worse, be born outside of the castes entirely (Flesher). The highest caste is the Brahmins, the priestly caste. Their dharma is to study and understand the Vedas, Hindu’s four holy texts, and bring this knowledge to others. The second caste is the Kshatriya, the warrior/ruling class, who protects and guides the people. Vaishya, the professional caste, work in business and production to provide economically for the people. The Shudra, lowest of the castes, are servants to the higher three castes, providing the labor which moves society. Some upward mobility is possible, in that each caste has hundreds of jati. It is possible in one’s lifetime, by marriage or economics, to attain a different jati, but never to transcend or fall from the main caste one is born into. There is a segment of society that is so low that it was once not officially considered a caste. These are the Harijan; once known as the untouchables. The untouchables were considered wholly impure, and were given positions within society to reflect that. These jobs typically involved handling dead matter and filth; such as street sweepers, butchers, latrine cleaners, and the like. They are outcast from society to the point that they may not come into physical contact with one of the pure casts. If such contact were to occur, or even if an untouchable were to touch a casted person’s possessions or furniture, the casted person would immediately be required to cleanse his person or property (Anand). At first appearance, the Hindu caste structure and the social laws pertaining to rights based on caste seem to be prejudicial and exclusive. The lowest caste, Shudra, is not allowed to hear or study the holy Vedas. However, from a religious standpoint, the caste system is not abusive in itself. The Shudra are not allowed the Vedas, but they are allowed to participate in the Hindu religion. It may seem counterproductive to deny them the very texts that dictate their caste and dharma, but Hindus believe that everyone who is born into a caste is there for a reason. Karma, how you spend a lifetime, which follows you throughout your many lifetimes, determines which caste you will be in for the next lifetime. You may be demoted to an animal, repositioned within the castes, or granted Moksha. One’s karma and success in fulfilling one’s dharma determine if one is ready for a caste in which he will be allowed to study the Vedas and progress along Samsara; the cycle of lif e, death, and rebirth. Proponents of the caste system argue that it provides the answers that people turn to religion for. It gives the people a social structure that encourages closeness with other members from your caste. It gives an individual a meaning to life, even if that meaning is to serve or sweep the street. It provides a goal and a purpose. The caste system has the advantage of clearly defining morality and giving people a firm place in society. Though one may not be able to raise is caste within a lifetime, neither can his caste be lowered. It enables one to concentrate upon their dharma, to improve their karma, and progress toward rebirth in a higher caste. â€Å"Since it is accepted that one’s caste is determined by one’s past karma, there is no reason to be bitter about one’s lot or envy others† (Ludwig, 109). Granted, the caste system has not been implemented as the Vedas instruct. The system has come to be a hierarchy wherein the lowest levels are not given the respect commanded in religious texts (Embry). Detractors point to this as why, even with the caste system officially dissolved by the Indian democratic government, caste-based discrimination continues to be a hardship on the lower castes when it comes to employment and economic improvement. Today, things are much improved with the introduction of programs similar to Affirmative Action, and free education for all Indian citizens. Still a complete and genuine equality for all continues to elude them. It should be pointed out, with the official removal of the caste system; the door has been opened to social backlash, often referred to as ‘reverse discrimination.’ Policies originally meant to equalize the treatment of all citizens have been over extended and misapplied. Opportunities once reserved for the higher castes are now available to Harijan and Shudra, and actually denied to Brahmins. This upturn has triggered a re-stratification of society, converting it to a new system the where once oppressed become the oppressors. Every society naturally stratifies its population on the basis of influence, wealth, or education. The varna system ensures a high standard of craftsmanship, a sense of community belonging, family integrity and religious-cultural continuity. Indians have clung to these traditions as a source of economic and social stability in an often distressed society. It is unfortunate that the varna system has ended this way. However, it does not mean that classification is wrong. Rather than scrapping a major tenant of the national religion, it should be restructured to properly reflect karma as set in the Vedas. References Flesher, Paul. Social Organization; The Caste System. Retrieved February 02, 2010 from http://uwacadweb.uwyo.edu/religionet/er/hinduism/HORGS.HTM Anand, Mulk Raj: Untouchable. London. Penguin Putnam, 1940. Embree, Ainslie T.: Indias Search For National Identity. Delhi, India. Chanakya Publications, 1980. Research Papers on Varnasrama-dharma, the Hindu Caste SystemBionic Assembly System: A New Concept of SelfCapital Punishment19 Century Society: A Deeply Divided EraIncorporating Risk and Uncertainty Factor in CapitalPETSTEL analysis of IndiaGenetic EngineeringInfluences of Socio-Economic Status of Married MalesNever Been Kicked Out of a Place This NiceTwilight of the UAWDefinition of Export Quotas