Innis, Orality, and Pontypool

In the excerpt from The Bias of Communication, Innis notes that “An oral tradition implies freshness and elasticity but students of anthropology have pointed to the binding character of custom in [oral] cultures” (4). Furthermore, Innis explicates the process by which writing tends to form “monopolies of knowledge” given that literacy is typically closely tied to social class. This contrasts with oral societies, in which knowledge is embodied and stays close to lived experiences of those in the community.  

 I think that Grant Mazzy’s radio performance in Pontypool exemplifies both these points. Mazzy can be thought of as a sort of ‘knowledge keeper’ of the small town, since it is his job not to hoard relevant knowledge but rather to share it with the community as soon as he acquires it. Throughout the movie, we hear Mazzy sharing ‘breaking news’ updates, his live on-air conversation with Ken over the telephone. Thus, the job of a radio show host of a small town necessarily involves a democratization of knowledge. The particular mode of communication created through the mediatization of orality through the form of the radio news show closely resembles Innis’ characterization of an oral culture.  

     In addition to the sort of democratization of knowledge inherent in orality, audible in Mazzy’s performance, especially before sh*t hits the fan in Pontypool, are certain conventions typical of a low-budget local radio show. He plays a typical ‘breaking news’ sound bit, he takes callers, hosts a segment called ‘Pontypool Corner,’ etc. And when he goes off on a bizarre tangent, Sydney is rightly incredulous since he is breaking the oral conventions which befit the radio show performance. 

I also want to comment on the significance of the location of the town of Pontypool, and the importance of the involvement of the Quebecois police force in the events of the movie. To explain the way that a given language morphs as a vector of information over time, Innis writes that the “Pervasiveness of language becomes a powerful factor in the mobilization of force particularly as a vehicle for the diffusion of opinion among all classes. Language exposed to major incursions became more flexible...” (Innis, 11).   The history of Canada can in part be thought of as a sort of Hegelian dialectic between Quebec and the rest of the provinces, engaged in an ceaseless power struggle for linguistic supremacy. Quite literally in Pontypool,

the English language becomes a powerful vector in the "mobilization of force" as the gruesome virus is diffused through it. I would call a zombie virus a "major incursion" into the language, so I find it interesting that once Mazzy and Sydney understood that the English language was the vector of infection, they switched to speaking in a sort of 'Franglish,' or, an uncomfortable chimera of French and English thus changing the nature of their use of spoken language. Therefore, I think that the virus is an example of time biased media given the way that it takes up and inflects the history of the English language in Canada, as well as the Quebecois police force's unsuccessful attempt to contain the virus through a spatially based quarantine.

Apologies for the excessive length of my post, but I had a lot to say 😅 I think I more or less hit all the questions in my response, but I would love to answer any questions anyone might have about my post and dive deeper into the themes of Innis, orality, and Pontypool! Also...sorry if some of the text is grey and small, formatting with Blogger is weird and I can't seem to fix it.