Background
Without getting too much into history and theory, I just wanted to clarify a couple of points. These are all conventions that Catholic and Jewish writers adopted in addition to some actual writing inventions by Catholic and Jewish writers. Writing conventions were usually adopted from the oral traditions of cultures—the ways in which people taught, told stories, sang songs, and communicated information. In most cases, people speak or express a new literary invention before it becomes a writing convention. Here, in addition to contributions from Eastern writing concepts (i.e. paper, imagists, iconography), I must mention the influence of the Greek and Latin traditions. So much of what we still use today in the English language can be attributed to the Greeks and Latin speakers. However, an often overlooked group in why we say what we say also comes from the Hebrew language tradition. I go back and forth, wondering if it is actually English I speak and write or if it is actually an English version of Greek, Latin, and Hebrew. We, all human beings, are heirs to a language tradition that has roots that reach far, far back in history.
Word.
Anyway, it is erroneous, then, to think that whoever wrote something down first was the first to tell a certain story or think a certain thought in a certain way. Words travel faster and more expressively through people than through print. Oral tradition has been and probably still is a much more common way to tell stories and pass on information. People talk more and listen faster than what can be written and read. Dialogue is still the best way to effectively communicate something to others if you hope for understanding. From this source of communication, language continues to change and be shaped by human beings based on what people want to convey and how people understand what is being conveyed. That is, spoken language is very dynamic and living, expanding through time.
The language we use today is built upon the labor and capital of those who labored before us, so to speak. That said, language still tries to convey the same fundamental questions humans have today as those questions of yesterday—life, death, happiness, pain, goodness, trial, triumph, exile, confusion, growth, exploration, desire, relationship, freedom, oppression, love. In ancient times, many people used mythology to explore these questions. Today, we do the same just in new forms. Even if we can’t understand the words and images our ancestors of the past used, we understand the questions they had.
That means that written work immediately becomes an artifact, language captured as it is known in the historical moment. It is akin to technology, which is ever changing. Not many people use an Apple II computer because computers have changed dramatically through human innovation. In the same way, not many people communicate through ballads. Writing innovation creates and employs new technologies in order to communicate with others through time and space. Innovative writing comes when a person consciously shapes a written work in order to communicate to others—writers make the shaping of words an art form just as sculptors make the shaping of elements of the earth an art form—a creative act of the human being, inspired. The wonderful thing about writing is that it is a process of reciprocation—you learn more as you write more because you are inspired to wonder more.
Note: For the most part, I tried to put these inventions and conventions in chronological order under each subtopic. I also tried to give the earliest example of each. Many of the earliest examples are, of course, from Jewish writers; after Jesus, most examples of developments in writing come from Catholic writers; a few examples are from Protestant contributors (American writers).
Word: Which comes first? The word or the idea? Could both happen simultaneously?
The Primary and Most Important Instrument of Language: The Human Being
- Thought—what we think and how we think
- Perception—what we perceive and how we perceive it
- Voice—what we say and how we say it; what we hear and how we hear it
- Body Language (Vision)—what we express and how we express it; what we see and how we understand it
How do you communicate what is said and perceived?
What else do you need to know?
- Who says what
- When it is said
- Why is it said
Early Human Expression, Questions, and Understanding
Creation story: One that fairly accurately explains the order in which things and people were created.
Genealogies: One that connects people that exist today with people of ancient times. Couples to families to tribes to nations to kingdoms to the entire earth.
Why me, God? Literature: Narrative of the relationship between humans and One God, One that connects to all three major, monotheistic religions still in action today.
Feminine literature: A book dedicated entirely to the memory of one real woman–Ruth.
Prayers to God: Prayers that include all the varying emotions that humans have, from despair to hope, fear to strength, hatred to love, confusion to clarity. Jewish writers were not indifferent but heartily involved.
Law: One that combines ethical standards and religion. Many other polytheistic religions often had unethical gods.
Ecclesiastical Information: How should a priest be and act?
Maxims and Wisdom: Like Confucius (6th century BC, China), Solomon a few hundred years earlier developed several maxims, proverbs, that were the fruits of his own wisdom-seeking.
Love Poetry: The Song of Songs from Solomon’s time is still considered to be one of the most imagery-rich love poems of all time. Its historical significance and its timelessness fascinates poets even today. Not only is it full of imagery, unlike Egyptian love poetry, Song of Songs contains a definitive strain of hope interwoven throughout.
Prophecy: From the pagan, who could not help but give the “face the reality” prophecy to the last minor prophet in the Old Testament, Jewish writers thought prophecy important enough to log in their records.
The Word: He walks; He talks; He sleeps; He eats; He dwells; He inspires; He manifests what He speaks; He was in the beginning, is now, and ever will be.
Technological Advances
Phonetic Symbols: an invention from the Phoenician traders and merchants, a Semitic people (800-1000 BC). Whereas other cultures were using picture symbols, the Phoenicians decided to create symbols that would represent sounds. This opened up the possibilities for combinations, which could exponentially multiply and transform, opening an even bigger door that would help people develop and adopt concepts that had not yet been seen or spoken. This way of writing would be adopted first by the Greeks, then by the Latin speakers. Arabic linguists also adopted this way of writing. However, in addition to the consonants, which the Phoenicians used, the Greek and Latin speakers would create vowel sound symbols. The sound symbols that people in the West (from Europe to the Americas) use today are Latin symbols. Incidentally, most of the vocabulary we use in the West uses roots from both Greek and Latin languages. Catholics adopted playwriting, epic poetry, dialogue philosophy, and cataloguing from the Greek and Latin traditions.
Author’s Overview, Purpose, Method, and Apology: Not only does the author of Maccabees give an overview of what he will talk about, he talks about his purpose and the method he will use in telling the story. After he tells the story, he writes an apology because he cannot tell if he wrote well or not. Indeed, this was a very scientific approach to story-telling. See Maccabees, 2nd century BC.
The Book or Codex (1st century): Rather than keeping with the tradition of scroll-writing as the Hebrews, Greeks, and Romans had done or with the tradition of tablet-writing as other cultures had done, Christians decided to keep everything they wrote down in something called a book. It travels well; it won’t come unrolled; it can hold a collection of works; it doesn’t take as much time to write a word as it would engraving on a tablet. Fast, efficient, mobile—the book, next to phonetic symbols, was another of the highest, most influential inventions.
Illuminated texts: Gold-plated, illustrious letters and images, all wrapped into one book. St. Brigid is sometimes attributed as starting this tradition, 525.
Cyrillic alphabet: After encountering people who did not have their language written down, Saints Cyril and Methodius decided it would be a good idea to develop a printed version of all the languages they heard different tribes speaking, 800s.
Paper mills began to be introduced in the 1000’s in Spain.
Fibonacci patterns and numbers: Seeing patterns in nature and adopting Arabic numerals is attributed to Fibonacci. How much easier would it become for Catholic mathematicians to grapple with more difficult problems (early 1200’s).
Printing press: Johannes Gutenberg, 1436.
Gregorian Calendar: Peter Chaco, Christopher Clavius, Ignatius Dante, 1582.
Technical writing: Although Aristotle covered fairly well the art of categorization, several Catholic scholars adopted his methods in order to advance theories. For example, Isidore of Seville, (doctor of the Church) 600’s; Albertus Magnus (doctor of the Church), 1200’s; Fr, Luca Borga, 1494; Leonardo da Vinci, 1480’s; Father Nicolaus Copernicus, 1514; Vesalius, Fallopius, Eustachius (saint), 1543; Audubon, 1830’s.
Scientific treatise: Montaigne actually developed the essay as a genre in 1580; however, Catholic scientists were writing about science before that convention; Agricola, 1550; Casalpinus, 1583; Galileo, 1586; Sanctorius, 1611; Kepler, 1615; Descartes, 1637; Torricelli, 1643; Pascal, 1653; Steno, 1664; Grimaldi, 1665; Picard, 1666; Castelnuovo, 1667; Galvani, 1771; Jusseui family, 1772; Father Gregor Mendel, 1856.
Newspapers: Johann Carolus, 1605.
Magazines: 1663 in Germany.
Telephones: Manzetti, 1864.
Record players (phonographs), Thomas Edison, 1877.
Radio: Marconi, 1894, music, news, talk shows by 1920.
Newsreel: Pathe Freres, 1908.
Television: 1950’s, genres include episodic, saga, games, news, reality, market, sitcoms, etc.
Video games: 1970’s, genres include competitive, puzzles, saga, episodic.
Personal Computers: 1980’s.
The Internet: 1990’s.
Social media: 2000’s.
Online research: dictionaries, encyclopedias, music, games, bookstores and libraries that use Latin symbols, Greek and Latin roots, and phonics from the Phoenicians.
Writing Words, Creating Literature Genres
Autobiography: Augustine, late 300’s.
Mystery Plays: started as early as the 400’s.
Fenian Lay: Also called the Gaelic or Breton Lay, this is a type of lyric poem that writers had heard poets develop in Celtic cultures.
Framework Story: A device used in Job as well in stories in the Gospels of Mark and Luke, the framework became a good way to knit stories together. Examples are Echtrae Conli (2nd century Ireland), The Voyage of Brendan (Ireland, 700’s) The Tales of the Elders of Ireland (1100’s, Ireland), Decameron (1300’s, Italy) and Canterbury Tales (late 1300’s England). It was also used in the East and is still used today, as in, for instance The Princess Bride.
Afterlife Stories: Dante’s The Divine Comedy, early 1300’s; the Irish also have stories that contain visions and interaction with the Otherworld, seen a few hundred years before Dante.
Romance: Darmait and Grainne, Tristan and Isolde, the Knight’s Tale
Novel: Although not typically attributed to the Irish, I would say that the novel was an Irish invention. They did not write their stories in poetic verse. They told their stories with prose, dialogue and description. They also inserted small lyric poems throughout their tales, like what is seen in Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings.
Fairy tales and fables: Rather than employing the fickle polytheistic gods, these tales were created to teach virtues, morality, and life-lessons through the metaphors of monsters, animals, nature, and magic. See also Fabiliaux and Ballads
Petrarchan Sonnet: mid-1300’s
Dark Night poetry: John of the Cross, late 1500’s.
Utopian Literature: Sir Thomas More, 1516.
English Sonnet: Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey (martyr), 1547.
Essays: Montaigne, 1580.
Villanelle: Jean Passerat, 1602
Heroic couplet: Alexander Pope, Catholic, early 1700’s.
Short stories: Washington Irving, 1819.
Graphic novel: Rodolphe Topffer, 1827.
Detective stories: Poe, 1841.
Swashbucklers: Dumas (1840’s)
Slave narratives: Frederick Douglass, 1845.
Sprung Rhythm poetry: Father Gerard Manley Hopkins, late 1800’s.
Science-Fiction: Jules Verne, 1864.
Science-Fiction film: A Trip to the Moon by Melies, 1902.
Narrative film: The Life and Passion of Jesus Christ by the Pathe Brothers, 1905.
20th Century Mythology (science fiction in comic strip, cartoon, TV, film): Superman, Spiderman, Captain America, Star Wars, Star Trek, starting in the 1930’s.
New Concepts Conveyed; Old Concepts Adopted and Expanded
Translations between languages: Because missionaries encountered so many different cultures with so many different languages, they needed to develop “keys” in order to move from culture to culture. While some Catholics are given the gift of tongues, these Catholics know that others could be helped with translation guides, for instance, English, Promptorium Parvulorum (1440) by Galfridus Grammaticus, a Dominican monk.
Vernacular languages and mythologies: Missionaries from early Christian centuries to the Spanish and French exploration of cultures of the earth wrote down several hundred languages and mythologies. By 1758, Catholic missionaries had developed grammar books for 40 different languages in the Americas and had written 300 languages down. One extensive collection of vernacular stories starting in the 500’s comes from Ireland. However, it was a practice adopted by many countries who had been influenced by Christianity (see also King Alfred, Charlemagne, Snorri, Bridget of Sweden). Wherever Christian missionaries go, cultural vocabulary expands as it adopts words from other cultures that Christians interact with.
Fulfillment of the Old Testament: the New Testament writers tell that Jesus teaches through parables, analogies, and metaphors based on real life situations.
Journalism and Biography: Observations of a life from several first-hand sources as well as historical, contextual information from other sources.
Theological Treatise on Love: Starting with John, continued by many Saints through the centers even unto today.
Rapturous/Ecstatic/Mystical Union Literature: Revelations, Interior Castles, the Viewings, etc.
Letter writing: Not only were men writing letters, women were writing letters from a very early time in the Church’s history (1st century AD forward); see also Maccabees, which has copies of letters from the Maccabee time period (2nd century BC).
Hagiographies: Biographies of saintly people began early in the Church’s history. As time went on, scribes and writers began to integrate this with beautiful illustrations, perhaps developing what could be called the first picture books. The Canticle of St. Eulalia, 9th century France
Martyrology: A hall of fame of people who did heroic acts of love according to their time, space, and situation.
Creed: What is it that we believe?
Apologetics: How do we discern the difference between those who are authentically trying to be Christian and those who might just be faking it? Then, how do we defend our belief? Faith and reason. Many of the early Church Fathers created quite a repertoire of defense and reason to believe that the Word did really dwell among us.
Encyclopedias with anatomy, plant life, rock formations: In keeping with Greek philosophers, many Catholic writers wrote extensive encyclopedias on varying topics. Nature became an important topic to cover for several Catholic writers once Christianity became socially acceptable. See also Audubon, French American
- Medicines and healthcare became an important topic to uncover once Christianity became socially acceptable.
- Philosophy became an important topic to question once Christianity became socially acceptable.
- Human rights and law became an important topic to understand once Christianity became socially acceptable.
Iconography and the Greek Fathers: Where symbol and image meet. It is not a symbol that represents a sound nor a symbol that represents an image. It is an image that reveals theological mysteries. Irenaeus, Clement, Cyril, Athanasius, the Cappadocians, John Chrysostom, John of Damascus. Byzantium, 500’s to 1400’s.
The Consolation of Philosophy: St. Severinus Boethius, 524; he also translated Aristotle from Greek to Latin.
The Trivium: Conceptualized by Maurentius (Martianus) Capella in the 400’s, Catholic educational theorists adopted this profound understanding of language in order to continue study through language. In addition to those three aspects of the language, Catholic teachers via Boethius would teach the theory and application of number and the theory and application of matter (quadrivium). These seven aspects of human learning would be called the Liberal Arts Education.
Higher-learning, scholarly writing: The first colleges or educational centers began to open in Ireland. Because so many people begin to be educated, Ireland becomes known as the island of scholars and saints. Several cultures ask for Irish scribes to record languages and teach writing, beginning in the 500’s.
Libraries: Christian scholars also kept libraries (early 200’s); Christian merchants would also build bookstores.
Literature on the gifts of woman: Hildegard von Bingen, 1100’s; Juan Luis Vives, 1523, de institutione feminae christianae; Emilia Lanier, 1611; Sor Juana de la Cruz, 1690’s; Anna Laetitia Barbauld, 1795.
Reflection journals and diaries: Petrarch (1300’s); Samuel Pepys (1660-69); Anne Frank (1940’s), Sister Faustina (1930’s).
Extensive Dialogues with God: Catherine of Siena (1300’s), Julian of Norwich (1400’s), Catherine of Genoa (1400’s).
Scholastic thinking and writing: Ascertaining inconsistencies, gaps, and ambiguities in literature; making connections; analytical thinking. It should be noted that Aquinas, dictating his thoughts to up to five different scribes at one time, has still not been translated completely into English, 1200’s. Scholasticism really helped science and discernment advance.
Spiritual Exercises: Ignatius, 1522.
International law and issues of social justice: Vitoria, 1526-1540.
Informational pamphlets: St. Francis de Sales, early 1600’s.
Act of Toleration: Calvert, 1634.
Declaration of Independence: 1776.
Writing Music (Words and Melody)
Gregorian Chant: Pope Gregory, 590; plainchant was also and still is used in the Byzantine rite.
Folk music: From every culture with diverse instruments and lyrics; folk music has influenced the development of music from the piano sonata to today’s rock. It did not necessarily need to be written to be learned by another musician. However, in the 11th century, Guido of Arezzo developed a system of musical notation that would standardize the “letters” of music; in that way, music could be shared without having to be played and heard first.
Choir music: Old Hall Manuscript, 1420.
Operas: Dafne by Jacopo Peri, 1598
Arias, solo music: Caccini, 1602.
Symphonies: Sammartini, Brioschi, Galimberti, Lampugnani, Mozart, Haydn, Beethoven, beginning in the 1700’s.
Piano sonatas: Scarlatti, Bach, Handel, early 1700’s.
Musicals: Offenbach, Gilbert and Sullivan, Harrigan and Hart, Irving Berlin, Rodgers and Hammerstein, beginning in the mid-1800’s.
Southern Spirituals: began to be recognized in 1800’s but were developed before that time.
Ragtime: Ernest Hogan, 1895; Scott Joplin, 1899; jazz and rock ‘n’ roll develops from the southern spirituals and ragtime.
After that, well…we have movie soundtracks, country, pop, reggae, alternative, rap, heavy metal, hard rock, electronic, disco, and on…
Have you ever wondered what it would be like if Judeo-Christian tradition had not come into being? Where would the ideas that we so love today be?
What a beautiful flourishing of ways in which to communicate!
Don’t be afraid to try something new or renew something old:)
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References:
Calvert, JB (1999). The Latin Alphabet. Retrieved from http://mysite.du.edu/~etuttle/classics/latalph.htm
Dillon, Myles (1948). Early Irish literature. Four Courts Press: Dublin, Ireland.
Dooley, Ann & Roe, Harry (1999). Tales of the elders of Ireland, a new translation of Acallam na Senorach. Oxford University Press: Oxford.
Epistolae: Medieval Women’s Letters. Retrieved from http://epistolae.ccnmtl.columbia.edu
Harmon & Holman (2006). A handbook to literature, tenth edition. Pearson Prentice Hall: New Jersey.
Howatson, MC (1989). The Oxford Companion to Classical Literature. Oxford University Press: Oxford.
McTurk, R. (2005). Chaucer and the Norse and Celtic Worlds. Ashgate Publishing, Ltd.
Ni Bhrolchain, Muireann (2009). An introduction to early Irish literature. Four Courts Press: Dublin, Ireland.
Prosser, J (2014). A handbook for US Catholic history: Timeline, Compilation, Reflection, 2nd Edition.
Thamis (2012). The Phoenician alphabet and language. Retrieved from http://www.ancient.eu.com/article/17/
The Pathe Brothers. Feature film, multi-reel. The Life and Passion of Jesus Christ (1905) http://www.decentfilms.com/reviews/lifeandpassionofjesus Science fiction feature, A Trip to the Moon. The newsreel. Lumiere (1896), Melies (1897), the train ride.
TimeMaps (2014). The Phoenicians were a Canaanite people…. Retrieved from http://www.timemaps.com/civilization/Phoenicians
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