Analphabete

In 1861, out of a total population of 21,777,331, there were no less than 16,999,701 "analphabetes," or persons absolutely unable to read.

The Beckettian progression appears occasionally: while Miss Counihan (static) is an omnivorous reader and Murphy (transitional) a strict non-reader, Cooper is an analphabete.

The porter was an analphabete, but together / we found your name, down among the Os, / and there you were, my brave love, / in a loose hospital gown that covered nothing; […]

All these love tales are in verse, transmitted up to this day, through countless generations of oral tradition by an analphabete people with an inborn, unerring sense of art.