Introduction. Can Images Talk?

Images and writing belong to different realms, whereby by writing we refer to the script or system that notates language, rather than text. If writing can be made of pictures, it is all too often treated as an instrument whose raison d’être is the mere recording of sounds (Daniels 1992; Gelb 1963; Sampson 1985). By the same token, not all images become writing by necessity or inevitability, and when they do, the moment in time when an image becomes a sign is shrouded in mystery. This book taps into the territory in which both realms tread, and delves deep into the interstices of their confines, to explore how, in our history and prehistory, we have used images as if they were writing and writing as if it were pictures.