More than Writing: Coding and Decoding (in) Amerindian Graphic Communication Systems between Mexico and the Andes

本项目通过以下方式来研究美洲印第安人文字系统的运作原理：1)探索选定的案例研究；2)重新定义一个根深蒂固的假设，即非欧洲文字系统应该从“真正的”写作（即语言的完全可视化）的角度来衡量和评估。这种有偏见的，但仍然普遍存在的焦点是有问题的，因为美洲和其他地方的大多数图形通信系统并不可视化语言，而是在没有可视化文字的情况下表达心理概念和结构。大量的西方知识也被编纂成非字母图形通信系统，就像化学符号或音乐符号一样，可以独立理解，并用不同的语言表达，但关于这些文字的理论工作仍处于起步阶段。这个项目询问这样的图形通信系统如何在美洲印第安人工作，以及他们的理解如何有助于写作的一般理论。因此，五个子项目将通过类似的基本系统程序分析高度不同的案例（从米斯特克法典和玉米阅读，到混合的前西班牙安第斯通信系统，到象形文字和南美洲低地的图形符号系统），以形成一个统一的理论，其中可以包括美洲印第安人图形通信系统的多样性。该项目将汇集为分析不同美洲印第安地区、文化以及不同学术传统（中美洲、安第斯和南美洲低地）的前西班牙和当代图形通信系统而开发的具体知识和方法。因此，它将通过侧重于这些系统的操作原则，有助于更好地理解美洲印第安人图形通信系统中知识的交流和传播；发展一个统一的方法来接近美洲印第安人图形通信系统和美洲印第安人图形通信系统的多元性理论。

This project investigates the operating principles of Amerindian graphic systems by 1) exploring selected case studies and by 2) reconceptualizing the deeply rooted assumption that non-European graphic systems are to be measured and evaluated from a point of view that focuses on "true" writing, i.e., the full visualization of speech. Such a biased, but still prevailing focus is problematic, as most graphic communication systems in the Americas and elsewhere do not visualize speech but express mental concepts and constructions without visualizing words. Plenty of Western knowledge is as well codified in non-alphabetical graphic communication systems, which are, like chemical or musical notations, understood independently and be verbalized in different languages, but the theoretical work on those kinds of scripts is still in its infancy. This project asks how such graphic communication systems work in Amerindian America and how their understanding contributes to a general theory of writing. Therefore, five subprojects will analyze highly distinct cases (from Mixtec codices and maize reading, to mixed pre-Hispanic Andean communication systems, to pictographs and graphical notation system in Lowland South America) through a similar basic methodical procedure to contribute to a unified theory in which the plurality of Amerindian graphic communication systems could be included. This project will bring together the specific knowledge and methodologies developed for analyzing prehispanic and contemporary graphic communication systems in different Amerindian regions, cultures, as well as different academic traditions: Mesoamerican, Andean and Lowland South American. It will thereby contribute to better comprehend the communication and transmission of knowledge in Amerindian graphic communication systems by focusing on the operating principles of these systems; to develop a unified methodology for approaching Amerindian graphic communication systems and a theory of the plurality of Amerindian graphic communication systems.