LITERATURE REVIEW
2.4 THEORETICAL PERSPECTIVE OF COMMUNICATION MODES
2.4.2 Literate Culture
organise around an issue they have to invest far more in doing so than people in urban areas. The time and financial costs of attending meetings are major obstacles for people.
In many instances theses costs effectively exclude poor people’s participation’’
(Barberton, 1998:247).
Thirdly, oral culture is associated with unreliable information recording. McGary (1991) argues that reliance on human memory limits the reliability of recording information.
Human beings may forget and they grow old and die. When one generation passes on, a certain degree of information is lost. Reliance on human memory may work better in societies with a limited body of information to share. In modern societies for instance, there is large volume of information requiring sophisticated recording methods.
Fourthly, in recent times, although oral and literate societies coexists side-by-side, senders of messages tend to favour the print media despite inequalities regarding the communication infrastructure, especially among rural societies. In comparison with the literate culture, oral culture often struggles to compete as a credible mode of communication. In this regard, a low level of literacy and poor access to information disadvantages rural people in public participation. Rural communities lag behind and have fewer opportunities for learning from the experiences of other communities (Barberton, 1998). Poor access to information and a low level of literacy hinder rural dwellers to lobby and organise more efficiently around issues of concern (Barberton, 1998).
2.4.2.1The Nature and Functioning of Literature Culture
If non-literate society is predominantly associated with primary orality, literate society is therefore associated with written word communication modes. Some of the challenges experienced with respect to oral transmission such as slow movement of information and a lack of reliable recording systems are resolved through the literate culture. Literate transmission is dependent on electronic and print media (Menache, 1991). This way, information is able to reach audiences in vast areas within a short space of time in comparison to oral culture. Interlocutors in literate society regard written messages as the genuine medium (Menache, 1991).
The theory of literate culture is associated with theories of development adopted after the Second World War. Mody (1991) argues that the role of mass media after the Second World War was to communicate development approaches from the developed to the developing countries. Furthermore, mass media communication was based on the diffusion theory advocating a linear, unidirectional, one-to-many communication activity to generate an understanding for beneficiaries regarding better development strategies (Agunga, 1996). It can be argued that in South Africa, authorities view literate culture as an appropriate approach to communicate messages from government offices to the mass population in rural settlements. The emphasis by the environmental legislation on mass media communication to engage IAAPs is evidence of government’s attitude towards this approach.
While literate culture appears to be a more advanced stage of communication than oral culture, this culture adopted certain oral culture traits. Goody and Watt (1991) observed that: ‘‘For even written literate culture, the oral tradition – the transmission of values and attitudes in face-to-face contact nevertheless remains the primary mode of cultural orientation…’’ (Goody and Watt, 1991:50). Literate culture is viewed as an important aspect of democracy in the sense that ‘‘…a majority of the free citizens could apparently read the laws, and take an active part in elections and legislation’’ (Goody and Watt,
1991:48). Although, literate culture is an advanced stage of communication, its appropriateness, accessibility and usability by the vulnerable groups is limited.
2.4.2.2Strengths and Limitations of Literate Culture
In developing countries, the role of the mass media is regarded as an important tool to disseminate ideas to expedite development initiatives (Mody, 1991; Lejakane, 1997).
Two main strengths of literate culture are noted. Firstly, mass media has the ability to disseminate messages to dispersed areas speedily (Lejakane, 1997). Secondly, literate communication has the ability to keep permanent records. This adds to the reliability of information. Reliable recording eliminates the possibility of distorted information.
At least three limitations are associated with mass media with respect to dealing with communities and individuals in predominantly illiterate societies. The first limitation is associated with centralised mass media facilities. Centralisation of communication infrastructure and facilities makes it difficult for rural people to access information. For example, the majority of rural people do not have access to Internet facilities (Agunga, 1996; Lejakane, 1997).
The second limitation is that the language used in mass media communication also raises doubts regarding the appropriateness of this approach to engage vulnerable rural stakeholders. The tone and language used appear not to be targeting grassroots people, but rather the elite audience. Because of this and perhaps other factors, Lejakane (1997) notes that there is enough evidence suggesting that modern mass media in Africa is designed to work better in urban environments than in rural areas.
Lastly, mass media communication usually lacks interpersonal interaction between the sender and the receiver of information. This may encourage the recipient to avoid responding or taking the necessary action upon receipt of the information. Unlike interpersonal communication requiring active engagement, written correspondence may
easily be avoided (Goody and Watt, 1991). Literate information is often solitary and does not provoke discussions or debates. As a result, the receiver of information may not take action to either read or respond to information (Bordenave, 1994).
Literature culture is arguably more advanced compared to oral culture because it is capable of distributing information massively, speedily and reliably. However, this approach is practically less appropriate and less effective regarding the participation of the vulnerable IAAPs in the PPPs. The reason for this is that mass media is often inaccessible to vulnerable groups. To be more sophisticated does not suggest that literate culture is superior to illiterate culture. To be effective among vulnerable IAAPs, mass media needs to be complemented with oral cultural.