Inventing an African Alphabet
Writing, Art, and Kongo Culture in the DRC

Combines biography, art, and religion to explore Kongo identity and culture, and the relationship between innovation and revelation.

Ramon Sarró (Author)

9781009199490, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 23 February 2023

332 pages
23.5 x 15.8 x 1.5 cm, 0.47 kg

'A multifaceted exploration of Kimbanguism, Kongo culture and expressions of identity, Sarro examines Wabeladio Payi's system of writing to explore human creativity and epistemology in a religious register. The evocative descriptions and lyrical prose that centre the enquiry around the relationship between Payi and Sarro make this an unusual and beautiful study.' Emma Wild-Wood, University of Edinburgh

In 1978, Congolese inventor David Wabeladio Payi (1958–2013) proposed a new writing system, called Mandombe. Since then, Mandombe has grown and now has thousands of learners in not only the Democratic Republic of Congo, but also France, Angola and many other countries. Drawing upon Ramon Sarró's personal friendship with Wabeladio, this book tells the story of Wabeladio, his alphabet and the creativity that both continue to inspire. A member of the Kimbanguist church, which began as an anticolonial movement in 1921, Wabeladio and his script were deeply influenced by spirituality and Kongo culture. Combining biography, art, and religion, Sarró explores a range of ideas, from the role of pilgrimage and landscape in Wabeladio's life, to the intricacies and logic of Mandombe. Sarró situates the creative individual within a rich context of anthropological, historical and philosophical scholarship, offering a new perspective on the relationships between imagination, innovation and revelation.

List of figures
List of maps
List of Glyphs
Acknowledgments
Part I. Introduction: 1. A writing lesson (in Luanda)
Part II. Biography: 2. N'kamba: the road to revelation
3. Kinshasa: the road to the university
4. The eagle and the silk-cotton tree: my road with Wabeladio
Part III. Writing, Art, and Kongo Culture: 5. The road to the alphabet: the basics of Mandombe
6. On the Kongo road writing and entrapping culture
7. The road to art: the basics of Kimbanbula
8. A different road: reading Wabeladio's 'Method of Discovery'
Part IV. Discussion: 9. How to make words with bricks: some final thoughts on creativity
Bibliography
Index.

Subject Areas: Social & cultural anthropology, ethnography [JHMC], Society & culture: general [JF], African history [HBJH], Writing systems, alphabets [CFLA]