Download or read book Oral Tradition and the Internet written by John Miles Foley and published by University of Illinois Press. This book was released on 2012-08-02 with total page 314 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The major purpose of this book is to illustrate and explain the fundamental similarities and correspondences between humankind's oldest and newest thought-technologies: oral tradition and the Internet. Despite superficial differences, both technologies are radically alike in depending not on static products but rather on continuous processes, not on "What?" but on "How do I get there?" In contrast to the fixed spatial organization of the page and book, the technologies of oral tradition and the Internet mime the way we think by processing along pathways within a network. In both media it's pathways--not things--that matter. To illustrate these ideas, this volume is designed as a "morphing book," a collection of linked nodes that can be read in innumerable different ways. Doing nothing less fundamental than challenging the default medium of the linear book and page and all that they entail, Oral Tradition and the Internet shows readers that there are large, complex, wholly viable, alternative worlds of media-technology out there--if only they are willing to explore, to think outside the usual, culturally constructed categories. This "brick-and-mortar" book exists as an extension of The Pathways Project (http://pathwaysproject.org), an open-access online suite of chapter-nodes, linked websites, and multimedia all dedicated to exploring and demonstrating the dynamic relationship between oral tradition and Internet technology

Download or read book Oral Tradition as History written by Jan M. Vansina and published by Univ of Wisconsin Press. This book was released on 1985-09-06 with total page 273 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Jan Vansina’s 1961 book, Oral Tradition, was hailed internationally as a pioneering work in the field of ethno-history. Originally published in French, it was translated into English, Spanish, Italian, Arabic, and Hungarian. Reviewers were unanimous in their praise of Vansina’s success in subjecting oral traditions to intense functional analysis. Now, Vansina—with the benefit of two decades of additional thought and research—has revised his original work substantially, completely rewriting some sections and adding much new material. The result is an essentially new work, indispensable to all students and scholars of history, anthropology, folklore, and ethno-history who are concerned with the transmission and potential uses of oral material. “Those embarking on the challenging adventure of historical fieldwork with an oral community will find the book a valuable companion, filled with good practical advice. Those who already have collected bodies of oral material, or who strive to interpret and analyze that collected by others, will be forced to subject their own methodological approaches to a critical reexamination in the light of Vansina’s thoughtful and provocative insights. . . . For the second time in a quarter of a century, we are profoundly in the debt of Jan Vansina.”—Research in African Literatures “Oral Traditions as History is an essential addition to the basic literature of African history.”—American Historical Review

Download or read book Oral Tradition and the Internet written by John Miles Foley and published by University of Illinois Press. This book was released on 2012-08-16 with total page 314 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The major purpose of this book is to illustrate and explain the fundamental similarities and correspondences between humankind's oldest and newest thought-technologies: oral tradition and the Internet. Despite superficial differences, both technologies are radically alike in depending not on static products but rather on continuous processes, not on "What?" but on "How do I get there?" In contrast to the fixed spatial organization of the page and book, the technologies of oral tradition and the Internet mime the way we think by processing along pathways within a network. In both media it's pathways--not things--that matter. To illustrate these ideas, this volume is designed as a "morphing book," a collection of linked nodes that can be read in innumerable different ways. Doing nothing less fundamental than challenging the default medium of the linear book and page and all that they entail, Oral Tradition and the Internet shows readers that there are large, complex, wholly viable, alternative worlds of media-technology out there--if only they are willing to explore, to think outside the usual, culturally constructed categories. This "brick-and-mortar" book exists as an extension of The Pathways Project (http://pathwaysproject.org), an open-access online suite of chapter-nodes, linked websites, and multimedia all dedicated to exploring and demonstrating the dynamic relationship between oral tradition and Internet technology

Download or read book Oral Literature in the Digital Age written by Mark Turin and published by Open Book Publishers. This book was released on 2013 with total page 192 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Thanks to ever-greater digital connectivity, interest in oral traditions has grown beyond that of researcher and research subject to include a widening pool of global users. When new publics consume, manipulate and connect with field recordings and digital cultural archives, their involvement raises important practical and ethical questions. This volume explores the political repercussions of studying marginalised languages; the role of online tools in ensuring responsible access to sensitive cultural materials; and ways of ensuring that when digital documents are created, they are not fossilised as a consequence of being archived. Fieldwork reports by linguists and anthropologists in three continents provide concrete examples of overcoming barriers -- ethical, practical and conceptual -- in digital documentation projects. Oral Literature In The Digital Age is an essential guide and handbook for ethnographers, field linguists, community activists, curators, archivists, librarians, and all who connect with indigenous communities in order to document and preserve oral traditions.

Download or read book Oral Tradition and Book Culture written by Pertti Anttonen and published by BoD - Books on Demand. This book was released on 2018-09-28 with total page 178 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A new interdisciplinary interest has risen to study interconnections between oral tradition and book culture. In addition to the use and dissemination of printed books, newspapers etc., book culture denotes manuscript media and the circulation of written documents of oral tradition in and through the archive, into published collections. Book culture also intertwines the process of framing and defining oral genres with literary interests and ideologies. The present volume is highly relevant to anyone interested in oral cultures and their relationship to the culture of writing and publishing. The questions discussed include the following: How have printing and book publishing set terms for oral tradition scholarship? How have the practices of reading affected the circulation of oral traditions? Which books and publishing projects have played a key role in this and how? How have the written representations of oral traditions, as well as the roles of editors and publishers, introduced authorship to materials customarily regarded as anonymous and collective?

Download or read book How to Read an Oral Poem written by John Miles Foley and published by University of Illinois Press. This book was released on 2002 with total page 284 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Drawing on many examples including an American slam poet, a Tibetan paper-singer, a South African praise-poet, and an ancient Greek bard (Homer) the author shows that although oral poetry predates writing it continues to be a vital culture-making and communications tool. Based on research on epics, folktales, lyrics, laments, charms, etc.--Back cover.

Download or read book Liberating Voices written by Gayl Jones and published by Harvard University Press. This book was released on 1991 with total page 252 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The powerful novelist here turns penetrating critic, giving usâe"in lively styleâe"both trenchant literary analysis and fresh insight on the art of writing. âeoeWhen African American writers began to trust the literary possibilities of their own verbal and musical creations,âe writes Gayl Jones, they began to transform the European and European American models, and to gain greater artistic sovereignty.âe The vitality of African American literature derives from its incorporation of traditional oral forms: folktales, riddles, idiom, jazz rhythms, spirituals, and blues. Jones traces the development of this literature as African American writers, celebrating their oral heritage, developed distinctive literary forms. The twentieth century saw a new confidence and deliberateness in African American work: the move from surface use of dialect to articulation of a genuine black voice; the move from blacks portrayed for a white audience to characterization relieved of the need to justify. Innovative writingâe"such as Charles Waddell Chesnuttâe(tm)s depiction of black folk culture, Langston Hughesâe(tm)s poetic use of blues, and Amiri Barakaâe(tm)s recreation of the short story as a jazz pieceâe"redefined Western literary tradition. For Jones, literary technique is never far removed from its social and political implications. She documents how literary form is inherently and intensely national, and shows how the European monopoly on acceptable forms for literary art stifled American writers both black and white. Jones is especially eloquent in describing the dilemma of the African American writers: to write from their roots yet retain a universal voice; to merge the power and fluidity of oral tradition with the structure needed for written presentation. With this work Gayl Jones has added a new dimension to African American literary history.

Download or read book Oral Traditions and the Verbal Arts written by Ruth Finnegan and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2003-09-02 with total page 324 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The study of oral traditions and verbal arts leads into an area of human culture to which anthropologists are increasingly turning their attention. Oral Traditions and the Verbal Arts provides up-to-date guidance on how to approach the study of oral form and their performances, treating both the practicalities of fieldwork and the methods by which oral texts and performances can be observed, collected or analysed. It also relates to those current controversies about the nature of performance and of 'text'. Designed as a practical and systematic introduction to the processes and problems of researching in this area, this is an invaluable guide for students, and lecturers of anthropology and cultural studies and also for general readers who are interested in enjoying oral literature for its own sake.

Download or read book Signs of Orality written by E. Anne MacKay and published by BRILL. This book was released on 1999 with total page 292 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This volume presents essays by leading scholars on the nature of orality as represented by the Homeric poems, and the effect of the oral way of thinking on the subsequent literate and literary development of ancient Greek and Roman culture.

Download or read book Oral Literature in Africa written by Ruth Finnegan and published by Open Book Publishers. This book was released on 2012-09 with total page 614 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Ruth Finnegan's Oral Literature in Africa was first published in 1970, and since then has been widely praised as one of the most important books in its field. Based on years of fieldwork, the study traces the history of storytelling across the continent of Africa. This revised edition makes Finnegan's ground-breaking research available to the next generation of scholars. It includes a new introduction, additional images and an updated bibliography, as well as its original chapters on poetry, prose, "drum language" and drama, and an overview of the social, linguistic and historical background of oral literature in Africa. This book is the first volume in the World Oral Literature Series, an ongoing collaboration between OBP and World Oral Literature Project. A free online archive of recordings and photographs that Finnegan made during her fieldwork in the late 1960s is hosted by the World Oral Literature Project (http: //www.oralliterature.org/collections/rfinnegan001.html) and can also be accessed from publisher's website.

Download or read book Balancing Written History with Oral Traditions written by Hassimi Oumarou Maiga and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2009-09-10 with total page 231 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book offers a unique interpretation of Africa’s legacy to the world and the worldwide African Diaspora through bringing to light the sociocultural contributions of the Songhoy people and the cosmopolitan empire they established in West Africa.

Download or read book Folk Culture in the Digital Age written by Trevor J. Blank and published by University Press of Colorado. This book was released on 2012-11-16 with total page 277 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Smart phones, tablets, Facebook, Twitter, and wireless Internet connections are the latest technologies to have become entrenched in our culture. Although traditionalists have argued that computer-mediated communication and cyberspace are incongruent with the study of folklore, Trevor J. Blank sees the digital world as fully capable of generating, transmitting, performing, and archiving vernacular culture. Folklore in the Digital Age documents the emergent cultural scenes and expressive folkloric communications made possible by digital “new media” technologies. New media is changing the ways in which people learn, share, participate, and engage with others as they adopt technologies to complement and supplement traditional means of vernacular expression. But behavioral and structural overlap in many folkloric forms exists between on- and offline, and emerging patterns in digital rhetoric mimic the dynamics of previously documented folkloric forms, invoking familiar social or behavior customs, linguistic inflections, and symbolic gestures. Folklore in the Digital Age provides insights and perspectives on the myriad ways in which folk culture manifests in the digital age and contributes to our greater understanding of vernacular expression in our ever-changing technological world.

Download or read book Oral Traditions Continuities and Transformations in Northeast India and Beyond written by Surajit Sarkar and published by Taylor & Francis. This book was released on 2020-12-29 with total page 200 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Northeast India is home to many distinct communities and is an area of incredible ethnic, religious, and linguistic diversity. This book explores the shared cultural heritage among the highland and river valley communities of Northeast India and mainland South East Asia, including South China, through oral traditions. It looks at these shared cultural traditions and suggests new ways of understanding and interpreting the heritage of Northeast India. Oral traditions often bring forward an unexpected twist in understanding historical and cultural links, and this volume explores this using local knowledge and innovative engagements with oral traditions in multiple ways, from folklore and language to performative traditions. The essays in this volume examine how communities build new meanings from old traditions, often as a recognition of the tension between conservation and creation, between individual interpretation and social consensus. They offer interesting parallels on how oral traditions behave in different socio-economic contexts, and also examine how oral traditions and memory interact with the digital world’s penetration in the remote areas. This volume will be useful for scholars and researchers of Northeast India, sociology, sociology of culture, cultural studies, ethnic studies, anthropology, folkloristics, and political sociology.

Download or read book Orality and Literacy written by Walter J. Ong and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2003-12-16 with total page 209 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This classic work explores the vast differences between oral and literate cultures offering a very clear account of the intellectual, literary and social effects of writing, print and electronic technology. In the course of his study, Walter J. Ong offers fascinating insights into oral genres across the globe and through time, and examines the rise of abstract philosophical and scientific thinking. He considers the impact of orality-literacy studies not only on literary criticism and theory but on our very understanding of what it is to be a human being, conscious of self and other. This is a book no reader, writer or speaker should be without.

Download or read book Memory written by Philippe Tortell and published by Peter Wall Institute for Advanced Studies. This book was released on 2018-10-01 with total page 269 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: November 11, 2018, is the 100th anniversary of the end of the First World War, a time of remembering and memorial, of linking past events to the world we live in today. Taking this particular moment as a catalyst, this book examines the character and relevance of memory more broadly. The essays in this collection ask readers to think creatively and deeply about notions of memory – its composition and practices – and the ways that memory is transmitted, recorded, and distorted through time and space. Memory navigates a broad terrain, with essays drawn from a diverse group of contributors who capture different perspectives on the idea of memory in fields ranging from molecular genetics, astrophysics and engineering, to law, Indigenous oral histories, and the natural world. This book challenges readers to think critically about memory, offering an engaging and interdisciplinary roadmap for exploring how, why, and when we remember.

Download or read book And Grandma Said Iroquois Teachings written by Tom Porter and published by Xlibris Us. This book was released on 2008 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Iroquois culture and traditional Longhouse spirituality has a universal appeal, a ring of truth to it that resonates not only with other indigenous people, but also with non-Native people searching for their own spiritual roots. Raised in the home of a grandmother who spoke only Mohawk, Sakokweniónkwas (Tom Porter) was asked from a young age, to translate for his elders. After such intensive exposure to his grandparents' generation, he is able to recall in vivid detail, the stories and ceremonies of a culture hovering on the brink of extinction. After devoting most of his adult life to revitalizing the culture and language of his people, Tom finally records here, the teachings of a generation of elders who have been gone for more than twenty years. Beginning with an introduction about why he is only now beginning to write all this down, he works his way chronologically through the major events embedded in Iroquois oral history and ceremony, from the story of creation, to the beginnings of the clan system, to the four most sacred rituals, to the beginnings of democracy, brought to his people by the prophet and statesman his people refer to as the Peacemaker. Interspersed with these teachings, Tom tells us in sometimes hilarious, sometimes tragic detail, the effect of colonization on his commitment to those teachings. Like a braid, the book weaves back and forth between these major teachings, and briefer teachings on topics such as pregnancy, child-rearing and Indian tobacco, weaving the political with the spiritual. Through his recollections of "Grandma," and what she said, we also get an inside view of the life of a Mohawk man, and his struggles. Sometimes articulate and at other times inventive with his second language of English, Tom takes us on the journey with him, asking us to trade eyes, by "erasing the blackboard" to see if we "can understand what a Mohawk sees, feels, is happy about and is sad about." Chapter sections and headings include: The Opening Address, Colonialism, Creation Story, Language in 3D, The Clan System, Trading Eyes, Funerals and Contradictions, A Language Dilemma, The Fog, Where We've Settled, The Four Sacred Rituals, Atenaha: the Seed Game, The Four Sacred Beings, Three Souls or Spirits and Ohkí:we, Weddings, Pregnancies, A Spiritual Ladder, Child Rearing Methods, The Great Law of Peace, Some Notes on Tobacco and Other Medicine, The Leadership, Casinos, Prayer?, The Future and The Closing Address. There is also an appendix of interviews with Tom's children, entitled: What Grandma's Great-Grandchildren Learned. Written as it is, by someone raised predominantly by a grandmother, it contains teachings which might otherwise be lost. The Iroquois culture and traditional Longhouse spirituality (of which Mohawk is one of five - and more recently six - nations) has a universal appeal, a ring of truth to it that resonates not only with other indigenous people, but also with non-Native people searching for their own spiritual roots. Due to the suppression of indigenous spirituality and culture, not only in Iroquois country, but across North America, many are searching to recover the remnants of what has been lost. This book makes a significant contribution to doing that, having been written by one of the original leaders of the revitalization movement. During the 1960s and 1970s this Mohawk Bear Clan Elder traveled extensively across North America with a group called the White Roots of Peace, a group which has been credited as the original stimulus for the growing trend to return to traditional ways on this continent.

Download or read book Rhythms of Revolt European Traditions and Memories of Social Conflict in Oral Culture written by Éva Guillorel and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2017-10-23 with total page 780 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The culture of insurgents in early modern Europe was primarily an oral one; memories of social conflicts in the communities affected were passed on through oral forms such as songs and legends. This popular history continued to influence political choices and actions through and after the early modern period. The chapters in this book examine numerous examples from across Europe of how memories of revolt were perpetuated in oral cultures, and they analyse how traditions were used. From the German Peasants’ War of 1525 to the counter-revolutionary guerrillas of the 1790s, oral traditions can offer radically different interpretations of familiar events. This is a ‘history from below’, and a history from song, which challenges existing historiographies of early modern revolts.