Prologue

Abstract

The relation between mind and society is fundamental to many of the human sciences. The direction of influence is the problem. Does social change entail changes in mentality or do changes in mentality produce social changes? If both, how? The study of the implications of literacy provides a forum for examining this complex relationship. A literate society can be viewed as the social organization produced by minds made literate through schooling. Conversely, literate minds may be viewed as the product of participation in a literate society. What would seem to be needed is a clearer conception, on one hand, of what a literate mentality is, and on the other, of what a literate society is. I will suggest that a literate society is not to be defined by the fact that a substantial segment of the population is literate although that is an important part of it. On the other hand, neither is personal literacy assured simply by the creation of and participation in literate institutional structures. Our puzzle is how to understand each in turn and then to suggest some of their interrelationships. First, the mind.

‘The essential innovation which writing brings is not a new mode of exchanging and storing information but a new mentality.’ (Roy Harris, 1986: 99).