This introduction gives an overview of the key theory being utilised throughout the study, outlining some of the core traits or ‘psychodynamics’ of orality and literacy as laid out by one of the most influential thinkers in the field, Walter J. Ong. Ong famously suggested that writing ‘was and is the most momentous of all technological inventions’ (Orality and Literacy), bearing the capacity to restructure consciousness. Discussion then moves on to the implications this might have on visual expression and how these psychodynamics can be linked to art theory, and particularly how orality and literacy are connected to Wilhelm Worringer’s conception of abstraction and empathy. It is demonstrated how many of the psychological traits of orality are reflected in specific stylistic tendencies to be found in visual art, thereby demonstrating a synchronicity between these fields. Each of the subsequent chapters of the study is briefly outlined.