merely the function of being a copy of the spoken word. Printing however
had the immediate result of transferring the spread of literature from being
spoken to being read•
The man of the 15th century stood erect in front of the desk and read
aloud. That was the reason for the large letters characteristic of most
gothic books. It was not until later that the tempo of reading accelerated
and made smal ler type possible and necessary.
Reading aloud slowly, "feelmg" each separate letter and word, has now
given way to skimming the text. Modern reading technique owes its nature
to the way newspapers are set, their large and small lines. their different
weights of types. the spacing of single words and whole passages, the
making passages prominent by wide spacing and leading, and so on. The
optical appearance of newspapers is evidence of today's speed of life.
In literature itself, similar changes have taken place. The wnter of today no
longer describes at epic length, l1ke the poet of the 19th century, the feel
ings of his heroes and the landscapes of his story. The speed and urgency
of films has also influenced literature in the direction of second-by-second
action. The novel has been replaced by the short story. In their search for
new ways of expression some writers of today have turned to typography.
They have tried to transfer the ways of expressing modern prose from
acoustic to visual effects.
The Franco-Pole Guil laume Apollinaire wrote his "Calligrammes" in "con
crete" form. His verse described the outlines of spectacles. clocks. birds.
flowers, horses, men, etc. Its publication was dependent on photomechan
ically reproduced handwriting.
The Italian futurist F. T. Marinetti took a further step in the total typo
graphic design of poetry in his book Les mots en liberte futuristes (191 9).
By using different weights of type and different types, by placing them in
special positions, by repetition of consonants and vowels and a novel use
of typographic s1gns. he tried to give a phonetic effect to the spoken word
by the incisive optical effect of typographic forms. The printed word as the
means of expression was enriched by the specifically optical effect of his
typographic design. Al l earlier books count on reading aloud or leisurely
reading well distanced from the world. The book of today's active man.
- The speaker d1d not disappear suddenly_ Only 1n the last few years has the public's Interest 1n
h1m dlmlntShed.
For such works of literature. dependmg on acoustic effect -1n wh1ch the spoken word is essen
t•al -the gramophone record IS still a relat•vely perfect poss1bil•ty: Kurt Schw•tters and Joachim
Rmgelnatz have consequently spoken some of the•r "acoust•c" creat1ons on records.