Writing has been invented four times in human history, by the Sumerians, the Egyptians, the Chinese, and the Mayans. Each of these peoples developed a restricted set of symbols capable of recording any possible discourse in their spoken language. Much later, between 1700 and 1900, prophets and shamans of the Native American tribes developed “bounded” writing methods, designed to ensure the transmission of ceremonial rituals whose notational principles differed profoundly from more familiar forms of writing. Pierre Déléage draws on a deep and comparative study of historical and ethnographic evidence to propose the groundbreaking thesis that all writing systems were initially bounded methods, reversing the accepted historical perspective and making it possible to revise our conception of the origin of the other great writing systems. The Invention of Writing offers new conceptual tools for answering a simple question: Why have humans repeatedly expended the immense intellectual effort required to invent writing?
By:
Pierre Deleage
Translated by:
Victoria Bergstrom,
Matthew H. Evans
Imprint: HAU Books
Country of Publication: United Kingdom
Dimensions:
Height: 9mm,
Width: 6mm,
Spine: 15mm
Weight: 666g
ISBN: 9781912808298
ISBN 10: 1912808293
Pages: 150
Publication Date: 31 December 2025
Audience:
Professional and scholarly
,
Undergraduate
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Forthcoming
Figures Acknowledgments A Note on Terminology Introduction Writing Systems and Ritual Discourses Selective Writing Systems and Total Writing Systems Bound Writing Systems Five Indigenous American Rituals Prophetic Writing Systems and Shamanic Writing Systems Chapter 1 The Writing System of Charles Meiaskaouat, Montagnais Preacher Meiaskaouat’s Vision The Ritual Calendar The Book of Superstitions The Propagation of Charles Meiaskaouat’s Selective Writing System Chapter 2 The Great Book of Neolin, Delaware Visionary July 5, 1754—The Susquehanna River—An Indian Book July 24, 1754—Onondaga—A Nanticoke Letter June 2, 1760—The Susquehanna River—An Old Delaware Priest’s Book of Images October 15, 1762—The Ohio River—The Great Book of Neolin, Delaware Prophet October 22, 1767—The Ohio River—The Preachers’ Bible Chapter 3 Kenekuk’s Bible: The Kickapoo Prophet An Eschatological Map Kenekuk’s Selective Writing System After the Death of the Prophet Chapter 4 The Charts of Abishabis and Wasiteck, Cree Prophets Two Cree Prophets Two Printed Hymns and an Eschatological Chart Chapter 5 Prophetic Scripts Two Aspects of Ritual Invention Mapping Vision Narratives and Transcribing Songs The Prophetic Invention of Writing Chapter 6 The Midewiwin: The Writing System and Charts of an Ojibwe Shamanic Society Two Accounts Separated by More Than a Century An Ojibwe Shamanic Society Ojibwe Graphic Repertories The Origin of the Midewiwin Selective Script Midewiwin Shamanic Songs An Example The Selective Script of the Songs The Charts The Institutional Context of the Midewiwin Charts and Writing System The Midewiwin and Christianity The Midewiwin and the Jaasakids Chapter 7 The Writing Systems of Shamans and Prophets Epistemology and Liturgy Stability and Distribution Institutional Conditions for the Invention of Writing Conclusion Bound Writing Systems Selective Writing Systems Secondary Writing Systems Total Writing Systems Afterword to the English Edition The Problem of the Origin of Writing Standardized Graphic Systems Selective Writing Systems Bound Writing Systems Bibliography Index
Pierre Deleage is a researcher at the Laboratoire d'Anthropologie Sociale at the the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique in Paris. Catherine Howard is an anthropologist and translator.
