Embodied ritual performance and new writing systems

The "language" of ritual involves not only oral communication but also the manipulation of visual display. Speech signs are therefore coordinated with visual and material artifacts to ensure the efficacy of ritual performance. This chapter will argue that the creation of new writing systems (scripts) stems in part through the practice of coordinating visual material and oral signs in the context of embodied ritual performance, the traces of which are often explicitly evident in the iconic construction of the graphemes themselves. The chapter will draw material from ethnographic accounts of the development of new scripts primarily from Asia and Native America.