Verbal consciousness

Written records have preserved memory and experience for generations. They have brought continuity to human accounts of history, which in the context of evolution and development has enabled modern human beings to evolve into the level of civil life and well-being that we see today.
Perhaps recording history was the motive behind developing written language. Making records began with symbols, later evolving into signs and eventually into alphabets.
Written records are linked to the founding of civilizations. The first writing systems are known to have emerged in the agricultural civilizations around the fresh-water rivers of Mesopotamia in the fourth millennium BC.
At the same time many continued the oral history tradition, such as the original tribes from the Arabian Peninsula. They interacted with civilizations recording history through writing. However, they did not establish written records until the Islamic state was established.
It is therefore difficult to know about the lives of Arabs who lived hundreds of years before Islam emerged. Only popular stories and poetry have survived from that period, especially the famous epics or Mualaqat. These extended poems passed through generations verbally before the era of written records began during the rule of Caliph Othman bin Afan.
Poetry was a useful way to passing information through the generations because it is musical, harmonious and easy to memorize. The later stages of many folktales were kept as the base of consciousness and memory because of their poetic structure.
During the caliphate of Othman bin Afan, Arab civilization realized the importance of written records. This pushed them to protect their most important source of knowledge – the Koran. The sayings of Mohammed were told by a series of raconteurs and were consequently classified according to their degree of credibility.
The Arab region, which until the 20th century and even after World War I, suffered illiteracy on a large scale due to the Ottoman occupation, continued to record anecdotes verbally. This means two things – anecdotes or news lost much of their credibility and the raconteurs worked-in their imagination, beliefs and even interests when retelling the stories. This can be seen among Islamic groups’ employment of the Sayings of the Prophet.
Since rural consciousness is originally based on fate and providence, its linguistic structure is subjective and lacks the focus and concentration of urban consciousness; consequently, ancestral consciousness until now relies on verbal means in the retelling of knowledge among peoples.
It may be strange for those who don’t know the nature of the region, that “primitive” means of spreading news through rumors, mosque pulpits and demonstrators’ megaphones is more acceptable and perhaps makes more impact than modern media tools.
Some people still even rely on the “word of honor” as a contractual base for credit, trade and marriage contracts instead of written documentation. A man’s word is a contract that cannot be changed regardless of the cost – and denial means swearing an oath.
People who have for centuries inherited ideological lethargy prefer to stay outside of modern and post-modern consciousness. They would rather continue to produce illusions and relive old myths rather than face modern age realities. This would require them to face up to and move on from ages they spent in backwardness.
Rajab Abu Sariyya is a Palestinian writer in Gaza.