Writing, which developed independently in different contexts and in different epochs, represents a turning point in the dynamics of human communication. Tracing and studying its emergence mean travelling to China and to Easter Island, reliving Mesopotamia, and making a leap in time from the beginnings of civilisation to our own days. It also means opening the door to the mysteries that surround signs and writing systems, even today. What do rock inscriptions mean? What is the iconographic dimension of the emoticons with which we fill our written interactions?
Silvia Ferrara, a specialist in the history of writing and author of The Great Invention: A History of the World in Nine Mysterious Scripts speaks with the professor of Latin Philology, Javier Velaza about past, present, and future writing.
