Was the Soviet telephone a medium of secondary orality? Some evidence from Soviet films of the 1930s–1970s

Bibliographic Data

ID12977688
AuthorsLarissa Zakharova (École des hautes études en sciences sociales, corresponding author)
Year2016
Volume8
Issue2
Pages183-194
Publication date2016-05-03
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueRussian Journal of Communication (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1940-9427 • E-ISSN: 1940-9419
PublisherTaylor & Francis (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/19409419.2016.1190235
OpenAlexW2466120851
LanguageEN
Citations received3
References cited15

In the Soviet Union, the development of electrical communication technologies was a concomitant of literacy acquisition. In this context, some technical devices, such as telephone, appeared to remain bound to the urban context of communication: for most of the Soviet time, telephone was mainly used in cities by literate subscribers. Under these circumstances telephone was destined to fluctuate between primary and secondary orality. To verify this hypothesis, I am analysing scenes from the Soviet films shot between 1930 and 1970 where phone conversations have been deliberately put at the forefront. Examining oral expressions used by protagonists during their conversations I try to answer the following questions: Since when was telephone filmed as a medium of secondary orality? What obstacles had prevented it from exemplifying secondary orality in Walter Ong’s terms? What social and cultural aspects of Soviet reality are highlighted in the scenes in which Soviet telephone occupies a centre stage

Art · Literature · Orality · Political science · Eastern European Communism and Reforms · European history and politics · History · Law · Media Studies and Communication

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