Inventing an African Alphabet: Writing, Art, and Kongo Culture in the Drc

ISBN-13: 9781009199490 / Angielski / Twarda / 2023 / 332 str.

Ramon (University of Oxford) Sarro

Opis

Combines biography, art, and religion to explore Kongo identity and culture, and the relationship between innovation and revelation.

Recenzje

'A multifaceted exploration of Kimbanguism, Kongo culture and expressions of identity, Sarro examines Wabeladio Payi's system of writing to explore human creativity and epistemology in a religious register. The evocative descriptions and lyrical prose that centre the enquiry around the relationship between Payi and Sarro make this an unusual and beautiful study.' Emma Wild-Wood, University of Edinburgh

Spis treści

List of figures; List of maps; List of Glyphs; Acknowledgments; Part I. Introduction: 1. A writing lesson (in Luanda); Part II. Biography: 2. N'kamba: the road to revelation; 3. Kinshasa: the road to the university; 4. The eagle and the silk-cotton tree: my road with Wabeladio; Part III. Writing, Art, and Kongo Culture: 5. The road to the alphabet: the basics of Mandombe; 6. On the Kongo road writing and entrapping culture; 7. The road to art: the basics of Kimbanbula; 8. A different road: reading Wabeladio's 'Method of Discovery'; Part IV. Discussion: 9. How to make words with bricks: some final thoughts on creativity; Bibliography; Index.