On ʺIlliteracy and Other Illsʺ by Jim McCue

While reading Jim McCue’s article ʺIlliteracy and Other Illsʺ about the decline of literacy in modern society, particularly the UK, my feelings were very mixed. While I certainly share his concerns about the evaporation of reading culture, his way of sharing these concerns felt exaggerated and slightly condescending to me.

I agree with the author that the complexity of our thoughts depends on the complexity of the language that we use to express them, and that the limits of my language really are the limits of my world. I also agree that nuances in spelling and expression are vital for precise communication. However, some of his examples seemed nit-picky and the overall tone of the article felt melodramatic. The trend McCue is describing is definitely real and worrying, yet maybe looking for evidence on MySpace isn’t the best idea. I also don’t agree that the decline of grammatical standards is necessarily followed by a decline of moral standards, as he suggests in his introductory paragraph. While I myself don’t fall into the category anymore, comments like ʺmost teenagers’ thoughts have always been banalʺ (p.7) still irritate me. McCue appears to be just another member of an older generation grumbling about the behaviour of a younger generation: a complaint as old as time.

So while I agree with Mr McCue that literacy is indeed an endangered quality that is vital for a functioning society, I am not quite as pessimistic.