tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4160064815613449047.post1409418393508266183..comments2024-03-05T12:44:37.415-08:00Comments on Sookta Sumana: LITERACY IN THE ANCIENT VEDIC WORLD WHEN THE WHOLE WOLRD WAS ILLITERATE INCLUDING THE ANCESTORS OF HARVARD SANSKRITIST IDIOT MICHAEL WITZELnokidding---http://www.blogger.com/profile/03403515418075019046noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4160064815613449047.post-48852269295441253842013-07-17T23:12:47.615-07:002013-07-17T23:12:47.615-07:00Michael Witzel Sun, Mar 23, 2008 at 9:53 PM
To: Ba...Michael Witzel Sun, Mar 23, 2008 at 9:53 PM<br />To: BalaKrishna Chadalawada<br />Cc: Michael Witzel<br />I really do not have time for this, but:<br /><br />Better to actually *read*our paper carefully:<br /><br />While we say that the Harappan (Indus) Civilization did not have writing (and thus was functionally “illiterate”) its people were anything but “illiterate”<br />in the sense of uncivilized. The myths depicted on their tiny tablets indicate a complex religion and its *oral* literature.<br /><br />NB: It is not a great shame if a civilization does not have a script: The Incas, Aztecs-Toltecs-Olmecs did not have one, neither the civilizations close to the Indus: Those of<br />Jiroft, Mundigak, and the BMAC (Bactria-Margiana Archeological Complex, 2400-1600 BCE)<br /><br />Script is an ingredient of the early great civilizations, but not a necessary one.<br /><br />MW<br />[Quoted text hidden]<br />Michael Witzel<br />Department of Sanskrit and Indian Studies, Harvard University,<br />1 Bow Street , 3rd floor, Cambridge MA 02138<br />1-617-495 3295 Fax: 496 8571<br />direct line: 496 2990<br /><br />Share this:<br /><br />YOU SEE HOW MICHAEL WITZEL PLAYS ON WORDS. FIRST HE DENIES HE SAID HARAPPAN (INDUS) CIVILIZATION WAS "ILLITERATE" AND THEN ASSERTS "IT WAS FUNCTIONALLY ILLITERATE."<br /><br />THEN HE SAYS IT IS NOT A SHAME BECAUSE THERE WERE OTHER CIVILIZATIONS WHO HAD NOT YET INVENTED SCRIPTS.<br /><br />WHAT HE FAILS TO ADMIT IS THAT THEY WERE ALL "PRE-LITERATE" AND THERE WERE NO COEXISTING LITERATE AND ILLITERATE PEOPLE IN THOSE CONTEMPORARY ANCIENT CIVILIZATIONS. THERE WERE NO FUNCTIONAL ILLITERATES. THEY WERE ALL "PRE-LITERATE."<br /><br />ALSO, NOTE HE USES THE ADJECTIVE "FUNCTIONAL ILLITERATE" FOR ONLY HARAPPAN (INDUS) CIVILIZATION. <br /><br />EVEN ACCEPTING HIS THESIS THAT THERE WAS NO WRITING IN THOSE CIVILIZATIONS, NONE OF THOSE "PRE-LITERATE" CIVILIZATIONS CAN BE LABELED "FUNCTIONAL ILLITERATE" BECAUSE THERE NEEDS TO BE CONCURRENT PRESENCE OF LITERATE PEOPLE TO CALL THOSE UNEDUCATED AND NON-SCHOOLED PEOPLE WHO CANNOT READ OR WRITE "ILLITERATE" (THE ADJECTIVE ILLITERATE FOR PEOPLE PRESUPPOSES THAT THERE IS "LITERACY" AROUND THEM.)<br /><br />A PROFESSOR OF SANSKRIT NEEDED TO HAVE THIS ELEMENTARY ANALYTIC APPROACH IN USING A PEJORATIVE ADJECTIVE SELECTIVELY<br />TO DESCRIBE ONE PRE-LITERATE CIVILIZATION AS "ILLITERATE" OR EVEN<br />LESS ACCURATELY AS "FUNCTIONAL ILLITERATE", AND AS USUAL WHEN CAUGHT MICHAEL WITZEL USES DISTORTED LOGIC AND SEMANTIC SLEIGHT OF HAND TO RATIONALIZE AND JUSTIFY HIS INAPPROPRIATE AND DEROGATORY-PEJORATIVE WORDS IN DESCRIBING HARAPPAN (INDUS) CIVILIZATION. THIS SHOULD BE VERY OBVIOUS TO ANY AND ALL<br />ASTUTE READERS. HE IS FIXATED ON HIS OWN IDEAS AND THEREFORE<br />LEGITIMATELY DESERVES TO BE CALLED AN "IDIOT" IN THE TRUE SENSE OF THE WORD.<br />nokidding---https://www.blogger.com/profile/03403515418075019046noreply@blogger.com