Seen Not Heard
Composition, Iconicity, and the Classifier Systems of Logosyllabic Scripts
edited by Ilona Zsolnay
Traditionally, writing–a graphic, multidimensional form of communication–has been approached as a vehicle for representing, and therefore conveying, the spoken word. Moving beyond this manner of analysis, this volume interrogates writing as a medium that is not simply a handmaiden to oral and aural exchange but a communication system that is richly layered and experienced. To exploit this aspect of visual code, scholars from the fields of Egyptology, Sinology, Hittitology, and Assyriology, together with Mesoamericanists, art historians, and a sign language specialist, are brought together in this volume. In its pages, these contributors incorporate into their analyses methods more commonly used in linguistics and semiotics, communication studies, art historical analysis, and traditional philology to new ends in order to form original trajectories of inquiry. Each contribution either lays bare explicit exploitation of visuality in scribal production as a means to cement power, reveal the mystical, induce humor, or expose clandestine views or it locates implicit knowledge schemes and cultural maps underlying and informing these same productions. The pioneering investigations presented in Seen Not Heard reveal that although writing may be heard, the fact that it can also be seen affects its reception and therefore the meaning of any transported phonological units.
Preface and Acknowledgments. Ilona Zsolnay Introduction. Ilona Zsolnay Part I: Experiential Writing 1. Text in Context: Relief and Hierarchy on Piedras Negras Panel. Claudia Brittenham 2. The Iconicity of the Vertical: Hieroglyphic Encoding and the Akhet in Royal Burial Chambers of Egypt's New Kingdom. Joshua Aaron Roberson 3. For the Eye Only: Aspects of the Visual Text in Ancient Egypt. Andreas Stauder Part II: Classifiers 4. Animal Categorization in Mesopotamia and the Origins of Natural Philosophy. Gebhard J. Selz 5. Was There an "Animal" in Ancient Egypt? Studies in Lexica and Classifier Systems, with a Glimpse toward Sumer and Ancient China. Orly Goldwasser 6. The Cognitive Role of Semantic Classifiers in Modern Chinese Writing as Reflected in Neogram Creation. Zev Handel 7. Iconic and Grammatical Dimensions of Sign Language Classifiers. Diane Brentari Part III: Script Evolutions 8. Encounters between Scripts in Bronze Age Asia Minor. Elisabeth Rieken and Ilya Yakubovich 9. Iconicity, Composition, and Semantics: A Structural Investigation of Pictures in an Early Writing Environment. Holly Pittman 10. Ava and ABb, a Memoir - or, The Curious Case of Nigin/Nanse Signification. Ilona Zsolnay Part IV: Response 11. On the Visual Presentation of Writing. Wang Haicheng
- Edited by Ilona Zsolnay
Other Titles in this Series
Pomp, Circumstance, and the Performance of Politics
Acting Politically Correct in the Ancient World
Volume 16
Outward Appearance versus Inward Significance
Addressing Identities through Attire in the Ancient World
Volume 15
Similar Books
Connecting the Dots: Counting, Writing, and the Beginnings of Civilization
The Secret Lives of Clay Tokens: A Memoir
Des mots aux actes
Traduction épistémique et littéraire. Nouvelles tendances en histoire et didactique
Volume 15
Exploring Gender Dynamics across the Ancient Near East
Collected Essays of Gender and Methodology in the Ancient Near East (GeMANE) 4 and 5
Volume 7
Ḫattušaš utnē išḫameški
Hittite and Other Ancient Near Eastern Studies Presented to Piotr Taracha on the Occasion of His 65th Birthday
New Research on Old Collections in Southwest Asian Archaeology
Proceedings of the Workshop Held at the British Museum, London, 31 July – 2 August, 2023
Old Aramaic Inscriptions and their Contexts
An Epigraphic, Archaeological, and Historical Synthesis
Volume 63
Pottery Traditions and Material Culture in Second Millennium BC Northern Mesopotamia
Contacts and New Horizons in the Land between the Tigris and the Zagros. Proceedings of a Workshop Held at the 12th ICAANE, University of Bologna, 7 April 2021
Volume 19
Punning in Odd or Elegant Constructions in Jeremiah
The Convergence of Linguistics, Rhetoric, and Textuality in the Hebrew Text of Jeremiah
Shame in the Worlds of the Hebrew Bible and Akkadian Texts
A Linguistic Study and Its Implications
Volume 33
Telling Contexts
Archaeological and Textual Studies in Honor of Elizabeth Bloch-Smith and Mark S. Smith
The Body
Lived, Cultured, Adorned: Essays on Dress and the Body in the Bible and Ancient Near East in Honor of Nili S. Fox
The Discourse of Rites
Shaping and Reshaping the (Counter-)Priestly Rituals Conducted Outside the Tabernacle
The Kingdom of Kizzuwatna: Recent Developments in Research
Proceedings of the Third NINO Postdoctoral Research Fellow Annual Conference, Leiden, 23rd-25th March 2023
Volume 137
