A general functional distinction of language has been that between
language as action and language as reflection, what Halliday calls
the pragmatic and mathetic macrofunctions of language (Halliday
1978). As a general distinction this is applicable to both speech and
writing. Writing has both the function of interpersonal action and
that of individual reflection, it is a way of creating meaning both
for oneself and for others. There is, however, in addition, a need
for a more specific outline of functions connected to the uses of
writing. Such functions are the memory supportive, the distancing,
the reifying, the social control, the interactional, and the
aesthetic. These are microfunctions of writing.
Most of the earliest writing we know, that of the Sumerians dating back to 3500 BC, is accountancy, i.e. lists of property. The function was to support the memory of the rich (Ong 1991), and the 'memory supportive function' is still perhaps the most important one for all literate people. This is the function of Memoria in classical rhetoric; a mnemonic function which later has been elaborated upon by both students and teachers in their efforts to memorize and teach important knowledge. This function serves both reflection and action, and is greatly improved by the additional non-linguistic signs of electronic writing.
Another function of writing is to expand the communicative range. Writing, in contrast to speech, enables communication over distance in both space and time (Coulmas 1992:12). Coulmas calls this the 'distancing function' and writing a 'distancing medium' which separates the three components of written communication: writer, reader and text. Global electronic networks clearly expand the communicative range and strengthen the distancing function of writing. It might be said that writer, reader and text get together in a virtual space, but in real, physical space the distance between them increases.
The fact that writing is a distancing medium means that what is being transmitted assumes the quality of an object (ibid.). Coulmas claims that this 'reifying function' of writing makes text into something that is both stable and tangible, a depersonalized object in its own right. As we have already seen, this is not so in electronic writing. Text which is written in a computer is not tangible but 'virtual', and it is not necessarily stable either, at least not in an interactive global network. The reifying function of text is challenged in electronic writing, and I shall return to that below.
The 'social control function' of writing (ibid:13) relates to the fact that we are surrounded by a lot of socially important forms of written communication that set the norms for and regulate social conduct. Examples are laws, contracts, the identification and registering of community members. The state of this function depends upon the depersonalized authority of the written text and is closely related to the reifying function. It is a question whether this authority of writing is weakened when the reifying function seems to be so.
Then writing has an 'interactional function'. Together with the 'social control function' this is an aspect of language as action. Writing makes possible coordinated action through e.g. letters and instructions and thus regulates behaviour indirectly over distance in time and space. This function too must rely on the authority of text as a stable and permanent object and is sensitive to conceptual change. When the authority of text weakens, the interactional function becomes weaker as well.
Lastly we have the relationship between the expression potential of a text and its 'aesthetic function'. The medium of writing as it appears in different technologies and cultural contexts creates certain genres and cultivates its visual expression. We find this in the genres that are typical to writing, e.g. the novel, and in the art of calligraphy (ibid:14). It is likely that new writing technology with new possibilities for storing, organizing and presenting text might create both new genres and new art forms. Examples here are hypertext novels and 'virtual realities'.
What is evident from this discussion of the functions of writing, is that technology influences both writing as individual reflection and that of interpersonal action. The distancing, reifying, social control, and interactional functions are all interpersonal, while the memory supportive and aesthetic functions are both interpersonal and individual. As far as I can see now, the interpersonal functions of language are met with serious challenges in the electronic technology of writing. Not only are the concepts of text and writing shaken. The question is as much what sort of communication we shall have.
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