Ong wrote Orality and Literacy in 1982, and since then the study of oral traditions and orality has become an established field of scholarly research. This awareness of orality and the impact of literacy on human cognition and society is due in no small part to the enduring influence of this text, as well as Ong’s other related works.

Ong’s academic career spanned seven decades and included countless lectures and publications, many on the topic of orality and related fields such as literary studies and rhetoric. Although Orality and Literacy does not pioneer any novel research or present the results of any first hand fieldwork, it nonetheless played a key role in consolidating and condensing decades of prior research on the topic of orality into a relevant and coherent account. For this reason, as well as the interdisciplinary focus and accessibility of Ong’s presentation of orality-literacy studies, the book has remained a seminal text in its field throughout the decades since its first publication.

Orality and Literacy was an immediate critical success, and it has since been cited in dozens of academic papers and publications. Ong’s contributions to academia are still respected, and his work has stood the test of time by retaining its relevance despite unanticipated and revolutionary advances in communication technologies in the decades since its publication.