Encountering Islam and Christianity in sub-Saharan Africa: from Orality to Literacy and to the Rise of Historical Writing in the Kingdoms of Buganda and Bunyoro

Year, pages: 2016, 191 - 212

Though the existence of script in some regions of Africa, in ancient Egypt, Kush, Nubia or the Ethiopian highlands led to the spread of literacy and of written knowledge, orality was the norm in many African societies in the past, and in much of Africa, historical and other knowledge remained to be constructed, maintained and conveyed by word of mouth, in poetic, musical and dramatic settings and graphic symbolism closely related to speech. Cultural contacts with Islam and later on with Christianity brought writing systems, Arabic and Latin scripts, literacy replaced orality and prompted the production of written knowledge. The arrival of Islam and somewhat later of Christianity into the kingdoms of Buganda and Bunyoro brought literacy in its train and led to the development of a rich tradition of historical writing.

Vilhanová, V. 2016. Encountering Islam and Christianity in sub-Saharan Africa: from Orality to Literacy and to the Rise of Historical Writing in the Kingdoms of Buganda and Bunyoro. In Asian and African Studies, vol. 25, no.2, pp. 191-212. 1335-1257.

Vilhanová, V. (2016). Encountering Islam and Christianity in sub-Saharan Africa: from Orality to Literacy and to the Rise of Historical Writing in the Kingdoms of Buganda and Bunyoro. Asian and African Studies, 25(2), 191-212. 1335-1257.