What happens to words when they are written down? Are there nuances from their sounds that get left out?
“In the beginning was the word.” So goes the teaching.
But if the word first comes from the mouth and not the pen, and if early books initially took shape orally, were the spoken words of Aristotle, Socrates, Plato, and ancient historians accurately captured?
Were the words the same on the tongue as on the page?
The best place to seek answers to these questions today is in certain parts of Africa.
Africa case study
In setting off on a small research project on the oral culture of literate societies, I found that various myths and modes of worship in this part of the world are still being passed down by word of mouth and have not yet been written down.
There are major differences between all religions. And there are differences within all religions, whether we are Muslims, Jews, Hindus, Buddhists, or Christians. There are even differences between atheists. Each special sect has its own peculiarities and set of rituals.
But in these parts of Africa, where religions lack established texts and rites and rituals are carried only via the spoken word, the differences feel deeper and more cultural.
Beliefs and practices here seem to relate more closely to the territory of the tribe or kingdom, such as the Ashanti religion practiced by a tribe in southern Ghana, and that of the Kikuyu, a large and powerful tribe in North Nairobi, Kenya.
The religious practices of these two tribes — especially their rituals and prayers — do not resemble those of written religions at all, other than in the delivery of the sermon.
It is not really possible to practice the Ashanti religion if you do not belong to it by birth and by practice. Because it was not written down in ancient times, it has never stopped evolving.
