Lost Between the Lines? Reflections on Literacy in the Global Village

ISSN： 1323-577X

Source： Educational Practice and Theory, Vol.19, Iss.1, 1997-01, pp. : 15-26

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Abstract

Hope is the keyword. And hope is what Marshall McLuhan did not have when he came to the conclusion that there is no chance for the book to survive in the electronic age of pictures and sounds. Most intellectuals, to say nothing of the educationalists who all fear that the book will perish sooner or later, are bereft of hope for literacy in the “infotainement” society. There has been an ongoing debate as to whether or not the ‘end of bookishness’ is in sight (Steiner 1988). Yet, thirty years after his daring conclusion one can clearly state: McLuhan was wrong: The aforementioned patient is still alive and fighting fit. According to the figures of the Börsenverein des Deutschen Buchhandels the book is in good health (in 1994 70,000 new titles; in all 650,000 available in Germany; FR 5.8.95). Moreover, the turnover of sold copies of special interest magazines is increasing dramatically and newspapers are still bought because they are read and not because people use them to wrap fish in. Reading does take place despite the fact that we suffer from an overkill offer of pictures, movies and sounds.