Items related to Inventing Writing: Prophets, Shamans, and the Transmission...
Inventing Writing: Prophets, Shamans, and the Transmission of Ritual Discourse in North American Indigenous Cultures, 1600–1900 - Softcover
Synopsis
A groundbreaking study that rethinks the origins of writing, revealing how Native American ritual scripts expand our understanding beyond state-centered, universal models.
Why have humans repeatedly devoted immense intellectual energy to inventing writing? In world history, writing was independently created four times—by the Sumerians, Egyptians, Chinese, and Mayans. These traditions developed universal scripts, systems of symbols theoretically capable of recording any utterance in the spoken language. On this basis, a long-standing scholarly view has held that the origins of writing are inseparable from the rise of states and bureaucracies.
However, this book turns our attention to another trajectory. Between 1700 and 1900, prophets and shamans in Native American societies devised “bounded” forms of writing. Unlike universal scripts, these were not intended to capture the entirety of speech. Instead, they served a precise function: to ensure the faithful transmission of ritual discourses within ceremonial frameworks. Their principles of notation differed profoundly from those of the great phonographic traditions.
Pierre Déléage’s analysis not only illuminates these overlooked episodes in the history of writing but also advances a methodological shift: rather than treating selective scripts as “failed” or “incomplete,” he interprets them on their own terms. In doing so, he opens up a broader framework for understanding writing as a diverse cultural practice, one that can emerge outside of state power, bureaucracy, or universal phonographic systems.
Now published in English translation, Inventing Writing makes the work of a leading French scholar available to new readers. It offers a groundbreaking perspective: writing does not emerge only as a universal technology of language, but also as a bounded tool shaped by ritual, institution, and culture.
"synopsis" may belong to another edition of this title.
About the Authors
Pierre Déléage is an anthropologist at the French National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS).
Matthew H. Evans is a writer, translator, and educator living in Lehigh Valley, Pennsylvania. He is also the translator of Charles Stépanoff’s Journeys into the Invisible (HAU Books).
Victoria Bergstrom is assistant professor of French and Francophone Studies at Lehigh University.
"About this title" may belong to another edition of this title.
Search results for Inventing Writing: Prophets, Shamans, and the Transmission...
Stock Image
TheInventionofWriting Format: Paperback
Seller: INDOO, Avenel, NJ, U.S.A.
Seller rating 5 out of 5 stars
Condition: New. Brand New. Seller Inventory # 9781912808298
Stock Image
Inventing Writing : Prophets, Shamans, and the Transmission of Ritual Discourse in North American Indigenous Cultures, 1600?1900
Seller: GreatBookPrices, Columbia, MD, U.S.A.
Seller rating 5 out of 5 stars
Condition: New. Seller Inventory # 40985129-n
Seller Image
Inventing Writing: Prophets, Shamans, and the Transmission of Ritual Discourse in North American Indigenous Cultures, 1600-1900 (Paperback or Softback)
Published by
Hau 3/30/2026, 2026
ISBN 10: 1912808293
ISBN 13: 9781912808298
New
Paperback or Softback
Seller: BargainBookStores, Grand Rapids, MI, U.S.A.
Seller rating 5 out of 5 stars
Paperback or Softback. Condition: New. Inventing Writing: Prophets, Shamans, and the Transmission of Ritual Discourse in North American Indigenous Cultures, 1600-1900. Book. Seller Inventory # BBS-9781912808298
Stock Image
Inventing Writing: Prophets, Shamans, and the Transmission of Ritual Discourse in North American Indigenous Cultures, 1600-1900
Seller: California Books, Miami, FL, U.S.A.
Seller rating 4 out of 5 stars
Condition: New. Seller Inventory # I-9781912808298
Stock Image
Inventing Writing : Prophets, Shamans, and the Transmission of Ritual Discourse in North American Indigenous Cultures, 1600?1900
Seller: GreatBookPrices, Columbia, MD, U.S.A.
Seller rating 5 out of 5 stars
Condition: As New. Unread book in perfect condition. Seller Inventory # 40985129
Stock Image
Inventing Writing
Published by
HAU Society Of Ethnographic Theory, 2025
ISBN 10: 1912808293
ISBN 13: 9781912808298
New
PAP
Seller: PBShop.store US, Wood Dale, IL, U.S.A.
Seller rating 5 out of 5 stars
PAP. Condition: New. New Book. Shipped from UK. Established seller since 2000. Seller Inventory # GB-9781912808298
Seller Image
Inventing Writing
Published by
HAU Society Of Ethnographic Theory, GB, 2025
ISBN 10: 1912808293
ISBN 13: 9781912808298
New
Paperback
Seller: Rarewaves.com USA, London, LONDO, United Kingdom
Seller rating 5 out of 5 stars
Paperback. Condition: New. Why is it that, throughout their history, humans have repeatedly taken on the task of developing writing systems? Inventing Writing offers an array of conceptual tools for answering this question. In it, Pierre Déléage explores a series of cases involving the invention and use of writing systems by indigenous North American societies. Between the seventeenth and nineteenth centuries, a number of prophetic and shamanic movements developed original inscription techniques to ensure the transmission of ceremonial discourses. Examining these sources, the author formulates an innovative hypothesis: All of these invented writing systems can be defined as intended to transcribe specific ritual discourses within the institutional frameworks that governed their transmission and recitation. By focusing on the pragmatic functions of these North American scripts in their ritual contexts, Déléage allows us to rethink the problem of the invention of writing beyond the confines of evolutionary approaches that have classically focused on the great phonographic scripts of human history (Mesopotamian, Egyptian, Chinese, and Maya) and have never been able deal with selective writing systems on their own terms. Déléage's approach offers a novel and promising argument for uncoupling the origin of writing from the genesis of the state, an association that many specialists in the field have long made. Seller Inventory # LU-9781912808298
Buy New
US$ 36.62
Free Shipping
Ships from United Kingdom to U.S.A.
Ships from United Kingdom to U.S.A.
Quantity: 3 available
Seller Image
Inventing Writing
Published by
HAU Society Of Ethnographic Theory, GB, 2025
ISBN 10: 1912808293
ISBN 13: 9781912808298
New
Paperback
Seller: Rarewaves USA, OSWEGO, IL, U.S.A.
Seller rating 5 out of 5 stars
Paperback. Condition: New. Why is it that, throughout their history, humans have repeatedly taken on the task of developing writing systems? Inventing Writing offers an array of conceptual tools for answering this question. In it, Pierre Déléage explores a series of cases involving the invention and use of writing systems by indigenous North American societies. Between the seventeenth and nineteenth centuries, a number of prophetic and shamanic movements developed original inscription techniques to ensure the transmission of ceremonial discourses. Examining these sources, the author formulates an innovative hypothesis: All of these invented writing systems can be defined as intended to transcribe specific ritual discourses within the institutional frameworks that governed their transmission and recitation. By focusing on the pragmatic functions of these North American scripts in their ritual contexts, Déléage allows us to rethink the problem of the invention of writing beyond the confines of evolutionary approaches that have classically focused on the great phonographic scripts of human history (Mesopotamian, Egyptian, Chinese, and Maya) and have never been able deal with selective writing systems on their own terms. Déléage's approach offers a novel and promising argument for uncoupling the origin of writing from the genesis of the state, an association that many specialists in the field have long made. Seller Inventory # LU-9781912808298
Stock Image
Inventing Writing (Paperback)
Published by
HAU Society Of Ethnographic Theory, 2025
ISBN 10: 1912808293
ISBN 13: 9781912808298
New
Paperback
Seller: Grand Eagle Retail, Bensenville, IL, U.S.A.
Seller rating 5 out of 5 stars
Paperback. Condition: new. Paperback. 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 Deleage 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? Why is it that, throughout their history, humans have repeatedly taken on the task of developing writing systems? Inventing Writing offers an array of conceptual tools for answering this question. Shipping may be from multiple locations in the US or from the UK, depending on stock availability. Seller Inventory # 9781912808298
Stock Image
Inventing Writing: Prophets, Shamans, and the Transmission of Ritual Discourse in North American Indigenous Cultures, 1600â"1900
Seller: Books From California, Simi Valley, CA, U.S.A.
Seller rating 4 out of 5 stars
paperback. Condition: Very Good. Seller Inventory # mon0004197037