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🇰🇷 South Korea /Culture & Society

Linguist Robert Fouser challenges 'writing hegemony' in new book on civilization's scripts

From Hankyoreh · () Korean

Translated from Korean, summarized and contextualized by DistantNews.

At a glance

In-depth Named sources Context piece
  • Linguist Robert Fouser has published "The Spread of Writing," exploring the history and spread of writing systems across civilizations.
  • Fouser argues against a single origin theory for writing, criticizing Western-centric views in linguistics.
  • The book examines diverse scripts, from cuneiform and hieroglyphs to Chinese characters and Korean Hangeul, highlighting their role in shaping world civilizations.

American linguist Robert Fouser has released his seventh book, "The Spread of Writing," penned entirely in Korean. The book delves into the history and global dissemination of writing systems, challenging the long-held notion of a single origin for all scripts and critiquing what he terms "writing hegemony" in Western scholarship.

All scripts came from Sumerian cuneiform.

— Assyrian linguistFouser criticizes this 20th-century theory, which he calls 'writing hegemony.'

Fouser, who has lived in Korea since the 1980s and previously taught at Seoul National University, presents a sweeping narrative that traces the evolution of writing from ancient Mesopotamian cuneiform and Egyptian hieroglyphs to Chinese oracle bone script, Indian Brahmi, Mayan glyphs, and the Japanese Manyogana that led to Hiragana and Katakana. He also includes Korean Idu, Hyangchal, and Hangeul, extending the timeline to modern digital emoticons.

In an interview with The Hankyoreh, Fouser stated that his initial linguistic focus evolved into a broader civilizational history. He emphasized that writing systems have a much longer history than the concept of "foreign languages," which he notes only became formalized with the advent of industrialization and formal education systems. Historically, learning a "civilization language" like Latin in the West or Classical Chinese in East Asia was paramount.

Ancient Egypt might have borrowed the idea of writing from Mesopotamia, but the scripts themselves are entirely different.

— Robert FouserFouser explains why he refutes the single origin theory for writing systems.

Fouser specifically refutes the "single origin theory" of writing, which posited that all scripts derived from Sumerian cuneiform. He argues this view, prevalent in the 20th century, is a product of Western dominance. "Ancient Egypt might have borrowed the idea of writing from Mesopotamia, but the scripts themselves are entirely different," he explained. "It's impossible that Chinese characters were influenced by cuneiform."

It's impossible that Chinese characters were influenced by cuneiform.

— Robert FouserFouser dismisses the idea that Chinese characters originated from Mesopotamian cuneiform.

The book also touches upon the significance of Hangeul, the Korean alphabet, which Fouser found remarkably easy to learn compared to Japanese. He believes that in the age of AI, the ability to discern and critically evaluate information, or "discernment literacy," will become more crucial than traditional literacy.

In the age of AI, discernment literacy will be more important than traditional literacy.

— Robert FouserFouser discusses the future of literacy in the digital age.
DistantNews Editorial

Originally published by Hankyoreh in Korean. Translated, summarized, and contextualized by our editorial team with added local perspective. Read our editorial standards.

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