THE RELEVANCE OF DIFFERENT KINDS OF SUPPORTING …



Asunción López-Varela Azcárate “The relevance of different kinas of supporting materials” Subsección 6.87.6.2.1. Section 6.87.6 Comparative literature in the age of global change, en 6.87 The role of comparative literature in the sharing of knowledge and in the preservation of cultural diversity. ed. by Tania Franco Carvalhal et al. Social Sciences and Humanities. Encyclopedia of Life Support Systems (EOLSS), Developed under the Auspices of the UNESCO, Eolss Publishers, Oxford, UK. [] 2006

THE RELEVANCE OF DISTINCTIVE KINDS OF SUPPORTING MATERIALS

Asunción López-Varela Azcárate

Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Spain

Keywords: preserving knowledge, collective memory, communication, power structures, materials, education, recycling

Contents

1. Summary

2. Socio-cultural dimension: knowledge preservation and different types of supporting materials.

3. The economic dimension of text supporting materials

4. The institutional dimension: textual mass production and control

5. Textual and global issues: the local within the global

6. The environmental dimension: preservation of our natural capital

7. Conclusion

8. Glossary

9. Bibliography

10. Biographical Profile of the Author

1. Summary

One of the most important life support systems is our cultural heritage, that is, our knowledge. In the course of human history knowledge has been preserved in different ways. Some of the first documents of human history were bones and stones. Millions of years afterwards signs and images began to appear. Support materials have ranged from rocks to tools, vessels, weapons, cuneiform tablets, papyrus rolls, codices and nowadays electronic materials.

Modernization has always been the consequence of the relationship between acquired knowledge and its preservation. New material and technologies provide new possibilities but also pose new problems. Continual computer innovation and production offer important new ways of preserving shared knowledge but can, however, contribute to degrading the environment in ways we never anticipated.

This article focuses on the changes that have accompanied textual support, its relevance for the preservation of knowledge and memory systems and its distribution in a globalized world, from media production to education. It is important to show the consequences of information destruction and environmental degradation and the responsibility for them, offering a reactive approach that involves future prevention.

2. Socio-cultural dimension: knowledge preservation and different types of supporting materials.

Preservation of knowledge has been linked to the invention of different kinds of materials for writing, painting, making music, etc. Human creativity and imagination have always played an important role in this process of knowledge preservation. Human memory is undoubtedly proactive, that is future oriented and imaginative, a quality praised in the arts but which has had trouble acquired the same recognition within scientific discovery, generally ruled by empirical reason. However, together with observation, imagination is the basis of technological innovation and discovery.

One of those fundamental discoveries in the history of humankind was that of language preservation or writing. Language is the very substance of knowledge and the invention of sings and letters became the primary communication media. Language is also the main medium for memorizing cultural processes. Written literature has therefore had an important role in shaping cultural canons, ranging from habits to conducts and also political institutions and even nations.

Both speech and written language constitute themselves following textual principles, that is, pieces of information that are chained or knitted together, following certain rules, in the same causal structure. The act of composing a text may be therefore described as writing whereas the act of interpreting the text is reading.

The different materials used for writing tend to follow this textuality which forms the basis of our own memory patterns. Thus papyrus, the earliest form of paper used by the Egyptians as far back as the First dynasty (2600 BC), was made from the pith of this wetland plant, whose stems were cut length-wise, flattened and overlapped side-by-side in two layers, the second one perpendicular to the first, so that all the horizontal fibres parallel with the roll’s length were on one side and all the vertical fibres were on the other.

Papyrus became an important trading commodity in the Mediterranean region. In Greece texts were written on the recto, that is, the lines following the fibres (right-hand page) but papyrus were sometimes reused writing across the fibres of the verso or left-hand page of the folded sheet, or scrubbed and scoured to form palimpsests (from Greek “scraped again”), irretrievably losing the earlier text. Around the 4th century BC a special type of notebook was introduced, serving as memoranda and later for public purposes. As Plato indicates in the Phaedo, the technology of the hypomnemata constituted a material memory of oral speech, contributing to form the raw material for later writing.

In areas where papyrus was unavailable parchment prepared from animal skins was used. Herodotus mentions that writing on skins was common in his time, the 5th century BC. Papyrus was thought to be invented around the 1st century BC in Pergamum, one of the main cities in Asia Minor at the time (today Bergama in Turkey), whose great library rivalled the famous one in Alexandria. However, parchment had also been used for some Egyptian Fourth Dynasty texts and even in the Assyrian and Babylonian cultures, which impressed their cuneiform writing on clay tablets, evidence of the use of parchment has been found. For example, in the Babylonian Talmud, Moses writes the first Torah Scroll on a split cow-hide. Rabbinic and early Islamic texts were also found on parchment, which was more resilient than papyrus to humid conditions.

In Northern Europe the earliest examples of runic writing were found on rocks and wood, the oldest being that of a comb found in a bog in Vimose (Denmark) and dating from ca. 160 AD. Christianization replaced this alphabet, which shares similarities, such as the angular shapes of runes, with alphabets of Phoenician and Etruscan origin, by the Latin one. Runes (from Gothic runa meaning “secret”) were also found on weapons, such as longbows and arrow heads and ornaments, giving name to the craftsman or the proprietor, but they are believed to be mostly signs to use for charms and divination. The Codex Runicus, written around 1300 AD and containing a number of Danish laws, is one of the few runic texts found on parchment.

Therefore, varied writing materials were used before the invention of paper in Ancient China in the 1st century AD. In Asia different types of wood and bamboo staves were often inscribed. The ancient codices of Pre-Columbian America (Maya and Aztec cultures) were also made of long folded strips of paper made of wood bark or plant fibre with a layer of whitewash. Documents of importance were inscribed on soft metallic sheets such as copperplate because leaves and paper were not as durable in the hot, humid climate. Buddhist manuscripts were inscribed on brass, copper or ivory sheets. Some important Etruscan texts were similarly inscribed on thin gold plates. The Romans used wax-coated tablets that could be reused, codex made of wood for taking notes and other informal writings. However, parchment roll or scroll became the dominant medium for literary works.

While other religions preferred the roll, the early Christian writers employed codex made of papyrus, more compact and better suited for people on the move than parchment. Sheets of parchment were also used folded to form codices until the more inexpensive paper was introduced into Europe by way of the Muslims, who had a paper mill in operation in Baghdad as early as 794. It was later manufactured in Moorish Spain.

The codex was an improvement over the roll or scroll (made of papyrus, bamboo, etc.) because it took up less storage space, it was easier to transport and allowed sequential access and easier reading. Pages could also be written on both sides and its stable spine, on which the title of the book could be written, made easier the task of organizing documents in a library. Papyrus was fragile when repeatedly folded, thus parchment or vellum began to be used. Manuscript codices were often enriched with border decoration, engrossed initial letters and illustrations. The best known examples of these are the Celtic Book of Kells and the Northumbrian Lindisfarne Gospels from late 7th century which combined Anglo-Saxon and Celtic themes.

3. The economic dimension of text supporting materials

Much of the cultural heritage of antiquity was transmitted inadvertently through palimpsests. Texts were often lost because the material was destroyed. Sometimes destruction was due to natural causes such as papyrus decay. But both papyrus and parchment were often scrubbed to form palimsests. The decline of parchment and vellum trade with the introduction of paper contributed to the scarcity of material and many old codices were destroyed for the sake of writing material. This was the case of many Greek and pagan manuscripts which have only survived as palimsests. In 691 a synodal decree forbade the destruction of manuscripts of the Scriptures or the Church Fathers. Foreign texts or heretical ones were more suceptible to being overwritten, and the discovery of cleaned, never overwritten parchment suggest that cultural and religious considerations were combined with economic ones.

The codex or book (in contrast to other forms of written and printed material such as brochures, leaflets etc.) was a huge technological advance in the early centuries of the Christian era. It won its popularity as a means of collecting and transmitting Christian writings. The technology of the codex and the use of papyrus or parchment for the pages allowed large works to be collected this way. It was cheaper, more portable and easier to use. It also permitted non sequential access.

The ability to access material out of order, together with the possibility of longer documents, encouraged the adoption of systems of headings and subheadings. Many of the differences between writing and speaking, which we take for granted, are directly or indirectly the result of the impact of the codex on our writing habits, particularly after the expansion of the printing press.

Block printing pressing sheets of paper into individually carven wooden blocks was first developed in China, where the earliest known printed text dating from 868 AD is a Buddhist scripture known as the Diamond Sutra. This technique began to be used in Europe as a means to print the most popular book, the Bible, but it was difficult to carve large quantities of minute text in each block and illustrations proliferated. In 1041 movable clay type was invented, to be replaced by wood and later metal, particularly brass towards the 13th century. All these were individually carved by hand.

In the 1450s, just when the fall of Constantinople in 1453 marked the divide between the medieval and the modern period, a revolutionary event modified the conditions of text production and distribution: the development of mass production molds by a German goldsmith called Johann Gutenberg developed molds (made of durable alloy of lead, tin and antimony) that allowed for mass production of individual pieces of metal alphabetic characters or types, kept in a press (hence the name printing press).. In 1465 an important press was set up in the Benedictine monastery at Subiaco, moving to Rome in 1467. The Aldine Press, established in Venice in 1494 by Aldus Manutius became famous for its celebrated editions of the classics, the development of the compact format book that could be carried in a saddlebag and the introduction of italic type as a means of increasing print density. The most important centres of early printing in the Law Countries were Deventer and Louvain. William Caxton was apprenticed in Bruges before returning to England in 1476 to introduce the first printing press in his native country.

Most genres of writing became adapted to this technology. Systems of headings and subheadings, page numbering, index or table of contents were introduced by 1600, allowing for cross references to be made more easily. In academic and scientific works footnotes and endnotes were introduced to support arguments, offer evidences or clarify some points to the reader.

4. The institutional dimension: textual mass production and control

Before the invention of printing all books were in manuscript form, a laborious process of writing, assisted by a vast number of calligraphers, illuminators, binders etc., that produced a rare and unique scholarly copy, only accessible to churches, universities and rich noblemen. The primary effect of the invention of printing was therefore to render multiplication of copies of a book cheaper and more expeditious. Estimates of the number of books and editions printed in the 15th century vary from 25,000 to 30,000. Only about 1,000 books were created per year in Europe before the invention of the printing press.

The expansion of printing presses also contributed to the enormous diffusion of learning and varied reading. There was a huge revival of literature and translations from other cultures, getting to the hands of people who, in the minds of certain authorities, had no business reading books, particularly dangerous ones. The Protestant Reformation encouraged the translation of the Bible into the local languages of Europe, an act condemned by the Catholic Church who wanted to keep the Vulgate version as the only authorized one. These different views on the preservation of knowledge had a great impact on the split between Protestantism and Catholicism. The press of John Froben in Basel published the first edition of the Greek New Testament edited by Erasmus in 1516. Also at Basel, Adam Petri printed many of the writings of Luther and the reformers. In Zurich Christopher Froschauer published the first edition of the Bible in English (1535). The Plantin press at Antwerp produced the Antwerp Polyglot Bible (1569-73).

Literature has always been a political and religious instrument and the process towards freedom of the press and the gradual relaxation of restrictive censorship laws was a slow one, paralleling the development of democracy. The first advocates of freedom of the press were the liberal thinkers of the 18th and 19th centuries who opposed the tradition of absolute monarchy and the divine right of kings. They argued that freedom of expression was a right claimed by the individual and grounded in natural law, so that freedom of press was an integral part of the individual rights. Owning a private library ceased to be a status symbol when in the 20th century books began to be published in paperback form.

Throughout the last century the information explosion was fostered by the ever-increasing rate of publishing together with advent of other means of information storage and transmission such as the radio, the cinema and, more recently, electronic publishing and the Internet. However, all these different ways of information storage, reproduction and distribution have continued to function in the context of power structures, whether political or economical. Both the Nazi movement and Russian Communism exercised a strong control of information and of the conditions of production, circulation and consumption of texts. Literacy has often been reserved to the educated elite who exercised authority, helping to preserve its status.

The development of literary criticism offers a very good example of the movement from a conception of writing, identified with an author who creates the text, whether fictional or not, out of his or her own memory, in a lineal progression from a remembered past, projected into the construction of an envisioned future (teleology), to a more open an democratic stance where the text opens to the reader as in the more avant garde art.

The unique understanding of the written word, linked to the figure of the author, can be seen in Plato’s treatment of the myth of the origin of writing, attributed to the Egyptians through the hypomnemata, a remedy or farmacon which helped memory and reproduced the Pharaoh’s voice without his presence, proving potentially dangerous without the royal signature and seal ring. Plato becomes the fist author to worry about the principle of authority and of copyright. The problem arises precisely out of the very nature of writing systems: their ability to maintain a persistent record of information expressed in a language, which can be retrieved independently of the initial act of formulation

This technology of the hypomnemata permitted also to recollect personal souvenirs and memories which could contribute to the reconstruction of a human exemplary life, a resource particularly exploited from the Greco-Roman period. Thus, writing can, through the figure of the I-author, foster an greater intensification of the relationship with Self, becoming a form of re-institution of the subject whose acts are told in the text. This kind of Freudian insight was particularly analyzed in the work of modernist writers such as Marcel Proust, Thomas Mann, Virginia Woolf or James Joyce. Increasing forms of intertextuality in modernist writing can be interpreted as a symptom of the growing importance of peripheral and marginal material following democratic principles, also seen in the opening of texts to the reader’s interpretation.

5. Textual and global issues: the local within the global

Perhaps the teleological structure of the written text is the heritage of ancestral roots that can be traced to the first western book, the Bible, as Jacques Derrida has suggested. It is also possible, as studies in Cognitive Linguistics suggest, that the causal structure of our thinking is inextricably linked to the development of our technical abilities, tool handling and writing skills. The written text is therefore born out of our very speech acts and obeys the dictates of the organization of contents that this format proposes, since thinking tends to follow linear and sequential patterns. Evidence of the linearity of discourse can be seen in expressions such as “to lose thread of the conversation”, “train of thought” etc., which represent the idea of an irreversible and unidirectional causal and time order.

Writing introduces two more dimensions to the “before” and “after” typical of oral speech: “above” and “below”. These are not temporal but spatial dimensions that allow more movement within the text. Textual movement depends on the textual supporting material and on the writing system used. Visual logographic and hieroglyphic systems appear to be more flexible in terms of visual movement, whereas alphabetic scripts seem to allow less movility. Besides, there are differences in the reading order: Chinese characters run from top to bottom whereas in the Latin alphabet, used in most western languages, letters run from left to right. In the Semitic writing systems the movement is the opposite one, from right to left. Different supporting materials offer different movement possibilities. The roll and scroll encouraged the top-bottom movement in reading, while the merger of pages in the first codices and books emphasized the linear “before-after” direction. The new electronic format which supports texts on a screen has contributed to add new possibilities of reading movements.

Hypermedia and Multimedia writing systems are based on Hypertext, a non-sequential, non-linear digital structure for organising and displaying information in the form of text, graphics, animation, sound and video. These electronic-based textual systems are based on the assumption that the readers/user can construct their own navigation path and reading interpretation. A common problem for novice users is one of disorientation, "getting lost in hyperspace". Navigational tools such as conceptual maps or browsers allow users to make an informed decision about their desired path in the hypertextual node-link sequence designed by the author. But some websites severely limit hypertext functions to prevent users getting lost. Links within a page can be limited to pop-up or window explanations with only a return link. Most such sites operate in a similar way to traditional printed texts and only the economics and accessibility of electronic publication have determined this supporting medium.

By contrast, there are some very elaborate hypertexts that constantly refer to other works and are open to readers/users that seek different things. Such works do not have one thesis to prove but rather allow the users to construct their own meanings. Uni-sequential and usually single authoritative texts, such as the scholar and academic publishing, require an orderly progression that electronic technology only makes cheaper. Deliberately pluri-sequential texts, such as those found in aesthetic texts and literature, look for multiple readings and effects that leap of the page, and which can be enhanced by using electronic formats. Vanavar Bush's ``As We May Think'' article and Ted Nelson's revolutionary Xanadu project are often mentioned as seminal works in hypertext theory.

Electronic-based material such as multimedia DVDs and CD-Roms have contributed to the improvement of teaching and education systems. Internet has also brought a new means of reaching the broad public for much less money. There is a whole new discipline emerging from the use of NT around distance education and computer mediated communication, with much of the literature examining the changing role of university faculty from instructors to facilitators. On-line learning has the potential of breaking down barriers and sharing insights across diverse cultural and linguistic literacy communities. These programs also permit a great plurality in the personal orientation of students. Besides, universities across the globe can offer on-line specialization programs to limited numbers of students, programs that would have been eliminated from the curricula had it not been for the lower cost of maintenance involved.

The expansion of net technologies is even reaching the less developed areas of the world, where lack of education is still a problem. The audiovisual format helps illiterate people to gain access to information that they cannot reach otherwise. It is here where our responsibility as educators becomes more important. We need to contribute to the globalization of cultural exchange and not merely to the opening of markets. The freedom of press, of writing and reading is a basic human right, a precondition for the advancement of democracy, which also means the possibility of reaching a balance between the rich and the poor. Reading and writing provide opportunities of access and participation.

6. The environmental dimension: preservation of our natural capital

The rising growth of electronic text supporting materials begins to pose a major disposal issue, particularly because various computer components are toxic to the environment. Those who dreamt that new technologies would end with the indiscriminate cutting of trees are now faced with the even more worrying problem of what to do with products such as arsenic, cadmium, brome flame retardants, lead, hexavalent chromium and mercury used the manufacture of computers and screens.

Tons of toxic-laden electronics where sent to burn or simply dumped in African countries such as Nigeria before new laws regulating electronic waste disposal came into force. Despite recycling campaigns promoted by prominent manufactures of computer equipment, encouraged by governmental actions, less than 15% of computers are recycled. Recycling can cost up to 50 euros and it is only recently that computer companies are paying for these costs. Organizations such as Envirocycle, Earth 911 or , encouraged computer donation or recycling. In the U.S. the Environmental Issues Council () developed the Consumer Education Iniciative CEI to inform consumers about recycling issues. The US Environmental Protection Agency EPA () also provides a recycling guide.Apple National Recycling Services offers an excellent list of recycling services in the U.S, Canada, Japan, Taiwan and different countries in Europe (environment/recycling/nationalservices/)

Europe took the lead in addressing the e-waste problem by proposing in1999 an ambitious system of "Extended Producer Responsibility" EPR. In 2001, the European Union Parliament adopted a directive that requires producers of electronics to take responsibility - financial and otherwise - for the recovery and recycling of e-waste. A second directive requires manufacturers to phase out the use of hazardous materials. More and more voluntary programs are also emerging. They face challenges such as: finding mechanisms to attract customer participation, establishing cost-effective collection for discarded products, identifying uses for returned materials and achieving cooperation where multiple firms are involved.

7. Conclusion

The shift from print to electronic publication is occurring at a particularly rapid pace. Electronic formats provide many advantages over print, especially for search and retrieval. In spite of the greater capability of the digital medium, there are still many problems that need to be faced: preservation of both printed and electronic materials, the use of standard means and formats in order to avoid loss of information, provide sufficient processing to enable the localization of information, solve copyright problems, find mechanisms to ensure collection of discarded polluting materials, etc. These are some of the problems that institutions need to solve. Global cooperation and coordination is the biggest challenge that we face. The preservation of our global memory depends on the relevance we chose to give to our different types of supporting materials.

8. Glossary

The following glossaries on the subject are available in Internet:

The Byzantine Studies Page hosts a wonderful glossary of terms used in Greek Paleography



The University of Ocklahoma Printing Services offers a good glossary of printing terms:



The CLIR Council on Library and Information Resources offers offers an excellent glossary of the different kinds of supporting materials and information on how to care for them:



A glossary based on Michele P. Brown. Understanding Illuminating Manuscripts: A Guide to Technical Terms. London: The J. Paul Getty Museum, and The British Library Board, 1994 is at:



A glossary of Library and Research Terms can be found at:



This is the leading research website dedicated exclusively to the study of the Tetragrammaton in the Christian Greek Scriptures (New Testament). It offers a glossary of specific terms relating to this type of research



The Book Collectors Glossary is a wonderful glossary on books and book collecting terms



The Epiphany Project introduces a glossary of Computer Terms:



The American Forest and Paper Association offers a glossary at:



The Heidelberg website glossary explains a multitude of terms relevant to printing



9. Bibliography

Bickerton, D.W, Calvin, W. 2000. Lingua ex Machina: Reconciling Darwin and Chomsky with the Human Brain. MIT Press. [The book explores the development of language and thought in relation to neuroscience]

Bolter, J.D. 1991.Writing Space. The Computer, Hypertext, and the History of Writing, Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Hillsdale [Standard text on the development of writing]

Castells, M. 1996. The Rise of the Network Society, Cambridge [An interesting study of the social changes brought about by new technologies]

Chartier, R. 1996. Culture écrite et société. L'ordre des livres (XIVe-XVIIIe siècle), Paris, Albin Michel [The book explores the relation between the development of printing presses and culture]

Commission of European Communities. 2000 “Proposal for a Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council on Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment, and Proposal for a Directive on the Restriction of the Use of Certain Hazardous Substances in Electrical and Electronic Equipment”; Brussels, June 13, 2000. [EU Regulations for electronic waste disposal]

Joyce, M. 1994. Of Two Minds: Hypertext Pedagogy and Poetics. University of Michigan Press [The book explores the possibilities of hypertext as a communicative tool]

Landow, G.P. 1991. Hypertext: The Convergence of Contemporary Critical Theory and Technology. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins UP. [Influential account of the development of electronic writing]

Lanham, R. A. (ed.). 1993. The Electronic Word: Democracy, Technology, and the Arts. Chicago: U of Chicago P. [Collection of essays, on the evolution of writing systems and their relation to the development of democracy]

Martin, H.J, Vezin, J. (eds.). 1990. Mise en page et mise en texte du livre manuscrit. Paris: Iditions du Cercle de la Librairie-Promodis [It focuses on the changes from manuscripts to printed texts]

Miller, H. J. 1995. 'The Ethics of Hypertext,' Diacritics 25; Fall 1995: 27-39. [It discusses ethical questions concerning electronic writing]

OECD, 1999. Working Party on Pollution Prevention, Guidance Manual for Governments: Extended Producer Responsibility, draft document ; Paris, France: OECD, November 4, 1999.

OECD Environmental Program 2005-6:

O’Donnell, J. 1998. Avatars of the Word: From Papyrus to. Cyberspace. Cambridge: Harvard University Press [Standard text in English for the study of the evolution of the different writing systems]

Ong, W. J. 1982. Orality and Literacy: The Technologizing of the Word. New York: Routledge, 1982. [A concise introduction to the history of orality, manuscript culture, print literacy, and electronic text]

Reynolds L.D., Wilson, N.G. 1991. Scribes and Scholars: a guide to the transmission of Greek and Latin Literature. Oxford: OUP [Standard text on the transmission of classical literature]

Roberts, C.H., Skeat, T.C. 1983. The Birth of the Codex. London: Oxford University Press. [Standard treatment of the origin of the codex]

Selfe, C. L., Hilligoss, S. (eds.) 1994. Literacy and Computers: The Complications of Teaching and Learning with Technology. New York: MLA [Twenty articles on technology and literacy instruction]

Turkle, S.. 1995. Life on the Screen: Identity in the Age of the Internet. New York: Simon and Schuster. [MIT based research on the relationships between humans, computers, and the idea of selfhood]

10. Biographical Profile of the Author

Asunción López-Varela comes from Madrid, Spain, where she teaches at Universidad Complutense since 1995. She is interested in the interdisciplinary aspects of literature teaching and researching, particularly in its possibilities as transcultural vehicle. Thus, her doctoral dissertation explored the theme of time both in 20th-century English literature and in science. She forms part of the research group LEETHI since 2002. Information about her publications, research and professional societies can be found at

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