There are many reasons why literacy in all different forms is important in modern society. There is no doubt that today’s society—not just in Australia, but in the world at large—relies heavily on the written word. A lack of basic literacy can lead to problems throughout an individual’s life, including problems finding work or even applying for jobs. However, learning to read is just the beginning for an individual in today’s world: globalization has wrought a plethora of changes in the way that text, literature, and visual representations are perceived.
Technology has changed the way human beings as a species communicate (Greenfield, 2009). Indeed, language has been altered by the growth of new technologies as well: words like “tweet” and “text” have new meanings today, meanings that would be completely foreign to someone even two decades ago (Säljö, 2012). Just because there are changes does not mean that communication has changed fundamentally, however: the creation and receiving of visual and written texts is as essential an ingredient in today’s world as it was a decade ago—perhaps even more so than ever before.
In this day and age, most Australians are able to read at the most basic level. Even this basic ability for literacy is different from the way that things were in the past, but it is becoming more necessary as people spread further and further from their place of birth. Language is changing too: English is a language that likes to borrow words, grammar, and even expressions from literature and other languages, so there are many things that exist culturally within the language that are difficult to teach to non-native speakers.
Perhaps one of the most interesting ways that visual literacy has changed is linked closely to globalization. Many Australians are familiar with certain brand names, and with those brand names, the associated symbols: one does not need to be able to read English to know that the swoosh on someone’s trainers refers to the company Nike, or that the yellow “M” on the sign marks a McDonald’s: these symbols have become a language of their own, and they are learned organically through interaction with the culture (Tyner, 2014).
Symbols are a fascinating expression of a culture’s visual literacy. Symbol and visual literacy is not limited to brand recognition, of course, although this is an incredibly powerful example: another example of visual literacy in which the symbol loses historical meaning is the save icon on a computer (Ong, 2013). The save icon is represented by a floppy disk, which is outdated technology: for many people born after these devices were used, this icon has no meaning other than “save,” but even without the historical understanding of the symbol, the meaning is retained through cultural use (Messaris, 2001; Greenfield, 2009).
Symbols are also powerful because they can transcend many cultural boundaries, but they can cross cultural boundaries as well. The symbol for “Wi-Fi” might be universal, but in Asia, beckoning another individual with one finger is considered rude—symbols and gestures can be universalized, but universalization is certainly not always the case (Messaris, 2001; Greenfield, 2009). The growth of technology has certainly helped make visual literacy more universal than it was in the past, however.
Interestingly, visual and textual literacy does not necessitate historical or foundational understanding of a particular symbol or phrase: indeed, sometimes culture misunderstands a textual phrase and misappropriates it to the point that the phrase begins to mean something else entirely. For instance, it is common to say that “blood is thicker than water” when discussing the importance of valuing one’s family; however, the actual statement—“the blood of the covenant is thicker than the water of the womb”—means something entirely different (Unlocking the Bible, 2012).
In fact, the Biblical statement is referring to the importance of piety and the importance of choosing to devote one’s life to Christ and His teachings; this Biblical verse suggests that family is less important than the choices that one might make in life. Despite the general meaning as it is gleaned from the Bible, society has accepted that “blood is thicker than water” means that people should value their family above nearly all else in their lives.
There are many English statements that have been taken from the Bible, and many have been misconstrued or twisted so that they mean something quite different from their original text; however, most people do not know that these phrases are taken from the Bible. Like the “save” icon, the historical meaning of the word is lost while the cultural meaning of the word or phrase is passed on from person to person within the culture as a whole (Haas, 2013; Ong, 2013). Phrases like “money is the root of all evil,” “rise and shine,” and even “bite the dust” have been taken from the Bible and from different Biblical translations (Unlocking the Bible, 2012).
Shakespeare’s works have also been the subject of cultural borrowing for many years. Shakespeare was well known for his wit, but today, many of his phrases have been approximated and absorbed into speech: he invented the “green eyed monster” of jealousy, the “heart of gold,” and the “foregone conclusion;” these are all phrases with a specific meaning and cultural weight that can only be fully understood through the context of Shakespeare’s work as a whole as well as the cultural and societal use of these phrases in the modern world (BBC America, 2016).
When Shakespeare created phrases like “play fast and loose,” they were created in the context of a particular scene of a play; thus, they have specific meanings that are lost when an individual does not understand the literary history behind the text. However, there are also cultural meanings that are lost for English as a second language or English as a foreign language speakers; these phrases, absorbed in their entirety into the language, are not easily explained or codified outside of western culture.
When an individual from outside the dominant cultural paradigm attempts to interact with these culturally significant symbols or texts, there is often some meaning lost. The only way to truly integrate fully and truly understand these phrases and symbols is to interact with the culture as a whole for some time. The purpose of this statement is not to sound exclusionary or nationalistic, but instead it is meant to elucidate some of the problems that non-native speakers or citizens experience when attempting to adapt to cultural memes in which the historical structure of the symbol or text has been largely lost.
References
BBC America. 2016. 45 Everyday Phrases Coined By Shakespeare | BBC America. [online] Available at: http://www.bbcamerica.com/anglophenia/2014/04/45-phrases-coined-shakespeare-450th-birthday [Accessed 4 Jan. 2016].
Greenfield, P.M., 2009. Technology and informal education: What is taught, what is learned. Science, 323(5910), pp.69-71.
Haas, C., 2013. Writing technology: Studies on the materiality of literacy. Routledge.
Messaris, P.,2001. Visual" literacy": Image, mind, and reality. Westview Press.
Ong, W.J., 2013. Orality and literacy. Routledge.
Säljö, R., 2012. Literacy, digital literacy and epistemic practices: The co-evolution of hybrid minds and external memory systems. Nordic Journal of Digital Literacy, 7(01), pp.5-19.
Tyner, K., 2014. Literacy in a digital world: Teaching and learning in the age of information. Routledge.
Unlocking the Bible. 2012. 37 Common English Sayings (From the Bible) | Unlocking the Bible. [online] Available at: http://www.unlockingthebible.org/common-english-sayings-bible/ [Accessed 4 Jan. 2016].
