The death of calligraphy has been predicted for centuries. However, handwriting, something romantic but not very pragmatic, is experiencing a moment of resurgence. Beyond the classroom, calligraphy finds a state of grace as an artistic expression, becoming an instrument of resistance and an antidote to acceleration.
“School calligraphy manifests itself as an obvious means of power. The imposition of a uniform and a correct It was not an aesthetic objective in itself, but a form of submission. Justice was sought not only in the lines, but also in the student’s own conduct. The alignment of the letters, the absence of erasures and the rigidity of the posture become metaphors for a social order that we want to reproduce. » Tomás Balmaceda, doctor of philosophy, specialized in philosophy of technology and professor at Udesa and Upsa, explains it to us. Mastery of handwriting, although compulsory, gives access to reading, to the production of thought and, ultimately, to participation in the public space. It becomes a vehicle for intellectual autonomy. The subject appropriates the technique, the words, imbuing them with a personal imprint.
For some, calligraphy is more than just an exotic whim used to recall a past erased by social change and technology. “Handwriting, although not useful for taking notes or taking exams, continues to have, from a neuro-educational point of view, a crucial function for brain stimulation,” explains David Bueno i Torrens, doctor of biology and professor at the University of Barcelona, specializing in developmental genetics and neuroscience. “The movement of the fingers and the wrist stimulates the brain much more than typing on a keyboard. We should continue to work on this. Maybe not in language class, but rather in art class.”
In the HBO show Max Real Time with Bill Maher: OvertimeCanadian experimental psychologist, cognitive scientist and linguist Steven Pinker recalled that taking notes is linked to better memory than using a screen. “When you have to think seriously about something, you have to process the meaning of it, which is not just a set of words. The act of writing it down puts it in your brain, it makes you remember it.”
Of course, the equation that brings us back to calligraphy includes variables of class, resources and time, the most exclusive luxury of this century. “What was a universal and compulsory skill in education could become a privilege. While the speed and efficiency of digital technology are an economic necessity for the most vulnerable sectors. Calligraphy classes and the taste for luxury writing objects are no longer academic practices, but hobbies refined that serve to demarcate an invisible boundary between those who live in the digital whirlwind by obligation and those who transcend it by choice,” explains Balmaceda. And he adds: “Handwriting could function as a mark of resistance and authenticity, just like imperfection in Japanese ceramics. wabi sabi or the sound of vinyl versus perfect digital audio.
Calligraphy is a perfect analogy to illustrate the past’s obsession with looking into the present. The truth is that no matter how many machines they invent or how they want to sell them: no one and nothing seems capable of putting an end to the all-powerful pen.
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