Change and retention in annotated manuscripts of West Africa
Final Report Abstract
The project carried out a comparative analysis of historical and sociolinguistic dynamics in two manuscript cultures, Soninke/Mandinka in the wider region of Senegambia and Old Kanembu/Kanuri in early and modern-day Borno region west of and around Lake Chad. We studied the influence of new technologies and socio-political configurations on the texture of Arabic Islamic manuscripts annotated in local languages. Drawing on previous research into change of language configuration, we explored two lines of research: (a) innovation and (b) extinction of certain features. The study of innovations focused on manuscript production in the form of lithographed and Xeroxed copies under influence of print and electronic technologies. Extinction of features was explored on the examples of precolonial and postcolonial manuscripts in the case of Soninke/Mandinka, and on the manuscripts before and after 1800 in the case of Old Kanembu (1800 being a turning point in the history of Borno caused by Islamic reformist movements). The study of innovations resulted in a preliminary typology of change observed in different domains of manuscript cultures, such as production and circulation, format and visual organisation. The loss of features (such as the annotations in the Qur’an manuscripts of Borno) was conditioned by the disruption of previous scholarly networks and identities. The results of the project have a typological importance for the study of dynamics of manuscript cultures in general.
Publications
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A Typology of West African Ajami Manuscripts: Languages, Layout and Research Perspectives. Exploring Written Artefacts, 707-728.
Bondarev, Dmitry
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Ink Making by the Book: Learning a Craft in the Arabic World. Education Materialised, 97-126.
Colini, Claudia
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The Routledge Handbook of Translation and Religion. Routledge.
Israel, Hephzibah
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Loose-leaf Islamic Manuscripts of West Africa: Retention, Adaptation or Invention?. Tied and Bound: A Comparative View on Manuscript Binding, 285-300.
Bondarev, Dmitry
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‘Islamic manuscripts and scholarly networks of the greater Senegambia’, in Charles Stewart and Ahmed Chaouqui Binebine (eds), Arabic-Script Manuscripts in Africa. Conference proceedings, The Islamic Manuscripts Association publishing, 134–157. ISBN Hardback: 978-1-7392607-0-5
Ogorodnikova, Darya
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‘Shifting regimes, reshaping manuscripts: The disappearance of annotated Qurʾans in Borno’. In: Christiane Gruber and Bihter Esener (eds) Regime Change: New Horizons in Islamic Art and Visual Culture. Gingko Library Art Series. London: Gingko. 32-46
Bondarev, Dmitry
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Palimpsesting or Paper Reuse in Islamic Manuscripts of West Africa. Palimpsests and Related Phenomena across Languages and Cultures, 475–508.
Ogorodnikova, Darya & Trad, Khaoula
