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This article explores the development and spread of the N'ko script among Mande communities in West Africa. N'ko presents a rare example of an indigenous script that has successfully competed against other writing systems that are older, better financed, and propagated in religious and formal education. N'ko script is studied in relation to its role as one of the most popular and widespread indigenous scripts in contemporary West Africa. The social relevance of N'ko literacy is contrasted with colonial and national literacy education programs. N'ko's popularity is shown to result from the script's strong linguistic and cultural relevance to Mande communities through its faithful transcription of local languages and its corpus of publications on indigenous and foreign knowledge. The introduction of formal schooling in N'ko is analyzed as a significant recent shift in the literacy movement that presents new opportunities and challenges. The internationalization of the movement is shown to have strengthened support for N'ko literacy, with N'ko serving as an important contemporary symbol of Mande social identity, which the author terms its “social orthography.” However, N'ko's strong association with Mande identity also threatens to limit the literacy movement's future development.
