The loss of writing’s prestige paradoxically drove oral languages to imitate writing.

Evidence

For example, the placid, traditional belief in the superiority of written languages over oral languages has long since begun to be challenged. Writing no longer is, nor does it appear to be, any guarantee of transcendence. The first result of this was a widespread appetite for works of folklore, sometimes wrongly considered to be bearers of truth or authenticity; but then came a dramatic effort on the part of most oral languages to become fixed-that is, to become akin to writing, at the very instant that the latter was losing its absolute quality. — Édouard Glissant, Poetics of Relation, 819

Categorization

• DEFINE: Illustrates Glissant’s concept that traditions petrify into false authenticity at the moment their rival (writing) declines — a concrete form of essentialist capture.
• XREF: connects to: Radical linguistic discipline both destroys reified language and submits to a purer one; Oral poetry is reclaiming knowledge once inseparable from writing worldwide; Standard written Arabic’s prestige crushed the limited written-vernacular Arabic experiment — L. P. Harvey, Muslims in Spain, 1500 to 1614, 614 (+1 more)

Broader Connections

• Standard written Arabic’s prestige crushed the limited written-vernacular Arabic experiment #exemplifies (0.90) — L. P. Harvey, Muslims in Spain, 1500 to 1614, 614
• Oral poetry is reclaiming knowledge once inseparable from writing worldwide #expands (0.85)
• Radical linguistic discipline both destroys reified language and submits to a purer one #complicates (0.80)
• Papyrus availability enabled Greek culture’s shift from oral to written form #qualifies (0.75) — Andrew Pettegree, Arthur der Weduwen, The Library- A Fragile History, 53