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Foreword
societiessubmergedinbothliteracyandoralityarewellknownfromthehistory
ofEuropeansocieties.Therelationsandinterconnectionsamongvisuality,litera-
cyandoralityareexperiencedinculturesallaroundtheworld.Thehistoryof
researchdealingwiththistopicisnowseveraldecadeslongandthenamesofsuch
father-figureslikeWalterOng,MarshallMacLuhanandEricHavelockappearin
anumberofcontributionstothisvolume.
However,theyareAfricanculturesandtraditionswhichtheauthorsofthepre-
sentedarticlesareinterestedin.Specialculturalfeaturescausespecificdependencies,
impactsandinterconnections.KeepinginmindthefactthatAfricansocietiesand
traditionsareverydiverse,theyalsohavesomecommonfeatures.Thequestionof
relationamongthemethodsofcommunicationwhichuseoralandvisual(inclu-
dingwritingandarts)systemsamongothers,servetosearchforananswerifsuch
specificAfricanfeaturescanbedistinguished.
Thecurrentissueof“TheArtisticTraditionsofNon-EuropeansCountries”
goesbeyondissuesrelatedtovisualartsandtendstosearchforrelationswithother
aspectsofAfricancultures.Withtheviewtomaintainchronologicalorder,the
volumestartswithtwocontributionsonAncientEgypt.DánielViktorTakácsdis-
cusseshoworaltraditionswerereflectedbyvisualsigns,whileAnjaKootzfurther
exploresEgyptianimagesandscriptasbothcarryingfeaturesoforalandwritten
communicationpractices.Takácsdealswiththeproblem,whichseemstobecentral
forthetopicoftheintertwiningoforalandvisual,i.e.theobviouscontradiction
inconsiderationsoncommonfieldsofwhatisvisualandwhatisoral.Hesug-
gests,asisfurtherdevelopedinothercontributionstothisvolume,thatbothoral
andvisualareapartofperformativetraditionand“itcanbesaidthatby“oral”
notonlythepartofaculturethatisrealisedorallyismeant,butratherthewhole
ofitsperformativetraditionincludingrecitations,movements,musicalelements
etc.”(Takácsthisvolume:14).Thisassumptionmakesastartingpointforfurther
discussionsinwhichvisualartstendtobepartofsuchperformativetraditions,
extremelyvividinAfricancultures.AnjaKootz,whilediscussingtheinterconnec-
tionsbetweenscriptandimages,arguesthattheycorrespondwitheachotherand
“finally,scriptandimagesinvitethereaderandtheviewerrespectivelytospeak”
(Kootzthisvolume:44).
TheuseofvisualformstospreadpoliticallymotivatedvisionofAfricaisdis-
cussedbyRobertPiętekandHannaRubinkowska-Aniołontheexampleofthe
storyofQueenNzinga,the17thcenturyAngoleseruler.Thetwoexamplesgiven-
watercolourscontemporarytoNzingaandacomicbookeditedinthe21thcentury
-serveasapretexttoaskquestionsabouthowimagesasamnemonictoolserved
spreadinginformationaboutAfricainthe17thcenturyEurope,andhowthesame
methodsservetoday,mostlyinrelationtoAfricanreaders.
