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THEARTISTICTRADITIONSOFNON-EUROPEANCULTURES
VOL.6
editedbyzuzannaAugustyniakandHannaRubinkowska-Anioł
ZuzaNNaAugustyNiak
HaNNaRubiNkowska-ANioł
ForewordtoTheArt,theOral
andtheWrittenIntertwined
Overmillenniapeoplehaveapplieddifferentideaswiththeviewtomakeephemeral
oralcommunication,oratleasttheideascarriedbyspokenwords,lastlonger.The
toolsappliedtodifferentthoughtshavechangedanddeveloped,butthemainaims
remainedthesamesincethemostancienttimes.Theyare:tobeabletoremember
whatwasoncesaid,to“freeze”andsavewhatwasoncesaidorthoughtforfuture
generationsandalsotousesimplesignstomakereferences,sothattheothersthink
aboutexactlythesameideasinthesamecontextasexpected.
Thisvolumeoffersaglimpseintodifferentaspectsofhowpeoplecommunicated
inthepastandhowtheycommunicatetodayinAfricawiththeuseofawidespec-
trumofdifferenttoolsandmethodsusingart,oralityandwriting.Inthecentreof
interestoftheauthorsremainstheareawhichiscommontoallthesemannersof
passingoninformationandconveyingmessages,theareawhichreflectshoworality
andvisualityinfluenceeachother.
ForalongtimeAfricahasbeenwellknownasacontinentofessentiallyoral
traditions.TheideaoftheAfricanRenaissance,coinedbyCheikhAnteDiopinthe
1960sbutexploitedrecentlybyAfricanpoliticiansandintellectualsalike,among
others,stressestheancienttraditionsofnativeAfricanscripts.Egyptianhieroglyphs
serveasthemainexample.However,thereisnodoubtthatoralityinAfricapene-
tratesallaspectsofthelivesofpeopleandsocietiesonthecontinent.Visuality,in-
cludingdifferentvisualartistictraditions,hasinturnbeenwellknownforserving
asmnemonictoolsincultureswhichareoralorthesewhicharepartiallybasedon
writing,partiallyonorality.
Wealsoneedtorememberthatthequestionofintertwiningamongdifferent
methodsofcommunicationisnotspecifictoAfrica.Onthecontrary,casesof