4 ms·

I have to admit I got discouraged by the implausible narrative and didn't finish reading, so maybe it's addressed, but it seemed very strange to me that this sc

I have to admit I got discouraged by the implausible narrative and didn't finish reading, so maybe it's addressed, but it seemed very strange to me that this scholar's father, his neighbors, and apparently many others around him, were engaging in writing without him ever noticing. He had "been told that these people were illiterate"...did he not grow up in that community? Why did his brother, who still lives there, not know about it? And how did he recognize that the script was written in his father's hand when he believed his father was illiterate? I really dislike this kind of info-drama.

Kaibeezy 4y ago
Concur. I know absolutely zero about this field and got pulled in by the compelling story but started thinking “no way”. What do we call this? It’s not clickbait per se. A legal term that seems like it sort of fits is “puffing”. I did have a back-and-forth with Dang a while back about what to watch out for re press releases. He really helped me see the point of going steps beyond to the underlying research, when possible. I’ve tried to do that (or notice when others might have done it) with the most interesting stories, despite the extreme rabbit hole danger. Unfortunately, primary source papers can have uncompelling titles and then the while topic sinks. Still, I’d call that a fair result, and will sometimes flag them up (my own posts and others) for a second chance.
ch4s3 4y ago
It's especially strange that it mentions poetry and advertisements being written in the script.
naijaboiler 4y ago
you have to understand racist effect of colonialism - intended or not. With western based colonial structures gaining ascendancy in late 1800s to 1960s, literacy de facto came to mean literate in western languages (or literate in native languages using western letters/alphabest). In many places, that remained the accepted definition of literacy even after the French/English/Portguese colonialists left. So it is very possible, that the author's dad would have been considered illiterate even though he was indeed very literate in a language and writing structure that is not western at all.
- seti0Cha 4y ago
  Do you really believe the racist effect of colonialism would cause this academic to not realize that his own father was producing Arabic script, which he himself is fluent in, on a regular basis? I don't doubt that a bunch of people may have been incorrectly classified as illiterate, but the personal narrative of this story makes no sense.
dmix 4y ago
From the article: > He found this modified Arabic script everywhere. Shopkeepers kept records with it and poets wrote sprawling verses in it. Ngom discovered religious texts, medical diagnoses, advertisements, love poems, business records, contracts, and writings on astrology, ethics, morality, history, and geography, all from people who were considered illiterate by the official governmental standards of their countries. It was apparently everywhere. The most charitable interpretation is they are putting a lot of weight into "illiterate by the official governmental standards of their countries." Which probably just means they couldn't speak/write French or lingua franca such as Arabic? Or maybe just the stereotypes existing outside of Africa, not that the local colonial workers never noticed it existed.
deleted 4y ago
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Kaibeezy 4y ago

Concur. I know absolutely zero about this field and got pulled in by the compelling story but started thinking “no way”. What do we call this? It’s not clickbait per se. A legal term that seems like it sort of fits is “puffing”. I did have a back-and-forth with Dang a while back about what to watch out for re press releases. He really helped me see the point of going steps beyond to the underlying research, when possible. I’ve tried to do that (or notice when others might have done it) with the most interesting stories, despite the extreme rabbit hole danger. Unfortunately, primary source papers can have uncompelling titles and then the while topic sinks. Still, I’d call that a fair result, and will sometimes flag them up (my own posts and others) for a second chance.

ch4s3 4y ago

It's especially strange that it mentions poetry and advertisements being written in the script.

naijaboiler 4y ago

you have to understand racist effect of colonialism - intended or not. With western based colonial structures gaining ascendancy in late 1800s to 1960s, literacy de facto came to mean literate in western languages (or literate in native languages using western letters/alphabest). In many places, that remained the accepted definition of literacy even after the French/English/Portguese colonialists left. So it is very possible, that the author's dad would have been considered illiterate even though he was indeed very literate in a language and writing structure that is not western at all.

seti0Cha 4y ago
Do you really believe the racist effect of colonialism would cause this academic to not realize that his own father was producing Arabic script, which he himself is fluent in, on a regular basis? I don't doubt that a bunch of people may have been incorrectly classified as illiterate, but the personal narrative of this story makes no sense.

dmix 4y ago

From the article: > He found this modified Arabic script everywhere. Shopkeepers kept records with it and poets wrote sprawling verses in it. Ngom discovered religious texts, medical diagnoses, advertisements, love poems, business records, contracts, and writings on astrology, ethics, morality, history, and geography, all from people who were considered illiterate by the official governmental standards of their countries. It was apparently everywhere. The most charitable interpretation is they are putting a lot of weight into "illiterate by the official governmental standards of their countries." Which probably just means they couldn't speak/write French or lingua franca such as Arabic? Or maybe just the stereotypes existing outside of Africa, not that the local colonial workers never noticed it existed.

deleted 4y ago

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