Table of Contents
Walter J. Ong. S.J.: A Retrospective . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
1. Historical studies of rhetoric . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
A. Ramus and rhetoric . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
B. Ramus and method . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
C. Ramus and printing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
2. Habits of thought, representing knowledge,
and visualism . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
3. The persistence of the word . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
A. Voices and hearers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
B. Word, sound, and the sensorium . . . . . . . . . . 10
C. Fighting words . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
D. Stages of communication,
stages of consciousness . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
E. Religious consequences . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
4. Communication media, orality, literacy,
and secondary orality . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
A. Oral cultures, literate cultures . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
B. Traces of older media . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
5. Digital communication, writing,
and interpretation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
A. Text . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
B. Writing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
C. Interpretation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
Editor’s Afterword . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
Book Reviews . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
Recommended Citation
Soukup, Paul A. S.J.
(2025)
"Walter J. Ong, S.J.: A Retrospective,"
Communication Research Trends: Vol. 23:
No.
1, Article 1.
Available at:
https://scholarcommons.scu.edu/crt/vol23/iss1/1