| Chapter 1: | Introduction |
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and literary theorists, the ways in which these technologies have been employed as a means for valuing culture and critique provide further points of intervention.
Technology is a term derived from the Greek word technologia. Its etymology can be traced to Aristotle and its meaning revealed by the concatenation of techné (“craft” or “art”) and logia (“saying”) as the systematic treatment of art. Aristotle's definition may be applied to the ways in which technology has affected the human capacity for performing critical speech. Speech, suggests Aristotle, provides proof of character (Aristotle, Rhetoric 1.2.1356a–1358b). It is through speech that one engenders character and, thus, fulfills one's commitment to the production of human labor, which involves not only the production of goods and the fulfillment of services but also the creation and perpetuation of social relations. Ancient Greek civilization prioritized oratory as a means for engaging social criticism and inspiring individual accountability within public forums. Through public debate, listeners benefited from the information conveyed by the orator while also recognizing the value of argumentation that speech allows, specifically, the opportunity to stimulate critical conversation through contradiction and contradistinction.
Ancient Greek civilization was an oral culture, and writing assumed a tertiary status, unlike postmodern society, which emphasizes technologies of writing. Ancient Greeks used rhetoric as a measure of ethos, or character. Aristotle emphasizes how orators were able to demonstrate their linguistic competencies and individual character through traits of knowledge (phronesis), virtue (arete), and responsibility to one's audience (eunoia) (Rhetoric 2.1.137a). Public deliberation also allowed orators the opportunity to affirm and to represent not only their individual identity and agency but also the collective identity and historical