Oral Traditions

“A Humorous Jesus? Orality, Structure and Characterisation in Luke 14:15-24, and Beyond,” Biblical Interpretation: A Journal of Contemporary Approaches 16 (2008): 179-204

by Bruce Longenecker

If humour is uncharacteristic of the texts of the early Christian movement, sensitivity to rhetorical patterning in... more If humour is uncharacteristic of the texts of the early Christian movement, sensitivity to rhetorical patterning in oral/aural contexts permits the recognition of innocuous sexual humour in one of the parables attributed to Jesus. Whether or not the humour originates with Jesus, it is suggestive of the way that Jesus was remembered by some of his earliest followers, and lays down a guidepost as to how he might profitably be rendered in modern portraiture or characterised in modern narrative. To that end, this study closes with an assessment of four Jesus novels of the past decade in relation to their depiction of Jesus and humour.

Voix de femmes songhay-zarma du Niger - entre normes et transgressions

by Sandra Bornand

published in "Femmes de paroles - Voix énonciatives et pragmatique des formes de discours", "Cahiers des mondes anciens", 3 / 2012

Au moment du remariage d’un homme, on observe – chez les Songhay-Zarma du Niger – un rituel spécifique aux mariages... more Au moment du remariage d’un homme, on observe – chez les Songhay-Zarma du Niger – un rituel spécifique aux mariages polygames, le marcanda, où les femmes, divisées entre « grandes » et « petites » épouses, se lancent dans une joute verbale d’insultes, puis chantent ensemble. Au sein de ce rituel, des chanteuses d’origine captives peuvent parfois venir chanter des chants grivois. Elles y évoquent ce dont on ne parle pas dans la vie quotidienne : la sexualité. Dans cet article, j’analyserai – sur la base d’une approche énonciative et pragmatique – le dernier chant d’une performance qui en totalise trente-deux. Celui-ci est particulièrement intéressant, car il débouche sur une altercation qui nous permettra de montrer comment ces chants de captives obéissent à des normes, bien qu’ils s’inscrivent dans la transgression, et comment cet espace transgressif, s’il est délimité, est sans cesse renégocié.

Calum & Annie Johnston: songs, stories, and piping from Barra

by Virginia Blankenhorn

Wogeo texts: myths, songs and spells from Wogeo Island, Papua New Guinea

by Astrid Anderson

Oslo: Kon-Tiki Museum, Institute for Pacific Archaeology and Cultural History, 2005. Kon Tiki Museum Occasional Papers vol. 8

Meteorite Falls and Cosmic Impacts in Australian Aboriginal Mythology

by Duane Hamacher

Hamacher, D.W. (2009). Meteoritics & Planetary Science, Volume 44, Issue 7, p. A85.

The witness and cultural impact of meteorite falls and cosmic impacts has been studied extensively in some world... more The witness and cultural impact of meteorite falls and cosmic impacts has been studied extensively in some world cultures, including cultures of Europe, China, and the Middle East. However, ethnographic records and oral traditions of meteorite falls in Aboriginal culture remain relatively unknown to the scientific community. Various Aboriginal stories from across Australia describe meteorite falls with seemingly accurate detail, frequently citing a specific location, including Wilcannia, NSW; Meteor Island, WA; Hermannsburg, NT; McGrath Flat, SA; and Bodena, NSW among others. Most of these falls and impact sites are unknown to Western science. In addition, some confirmed impact structures are described in Aboriginal lore as having cosmic origins, including the Gosse's Bluff and Wolfe Creek craters. This paper attempts to analyse and synthesize the plethora of fragmented historic, archaeological, and ethnographic data that describe meteorite falls and cosmic impacts in the mythologies and oral traditions spanning the 300+ distinct Aboriginal groups of Australia. Where applicable, coordinates of the reputed falls and impacts are cited in order for future inspections of these sights for evidence of meteoritic masterial or impact cratering.

Making blood white: Historical transformations in early modern Makassar (William Cummings) University of Hawaii Press, 2002. Journal article by Stephen Druce; Journal of Southeast Asian Studies 34…

by Stephen Druce

Charlatans Chicanery

by Mohamed Eno

Thr poem is an excerpt from my forthcoming volume Guilt of Otherness

The volume is under review with a subject area expert and a literary critic. The volume is under review with a subject area expert and a literary critic.

Bui Hangi-The Deity's Human Wife. Analysis of a myth from Pura, Eastern Indonesia

by Susanne Rodemeier

published in "Anthropos" 2009

For the last 70 years Protestantism and governmental influence are the main factors contributing to change in the Alor... more For the last 70 years Protestantism and governmental influence are the main factors contributing to change in the Alor archipelago. Consequently peoples’ thinking and acting is today strongly influenced by Christianity, which makes a study of the suppressed local traditions difficult. When a myth was used as the main theme of a documentary film on that area, a quasi-experimental situation arose in which an in-depth observation of traditional believes and their conflict with Christianity became possible. The selected myth deals with one aspect of the traditional marriage rules that may put even deity under obliged to help people. As such, it challenges the Christian way to approach and understand the sacred.

Tradition Without End

by Francisco Vaz da Silva

In A Companion to Folklore, ed. Regina F. Bendix and Galit Hasan-Rokem, pp. 40–54. Chichester, UK: Wiley-Blackwell, 2012.

This discussion follows the etymological clue, and envisions tradition as a dynamic process of transmission. This... more This discussion follows the etymological clue, and envisions tradition as a dynamic process of transmission. This entails laying out three major ideas. First, the popular view of tradition as a static, past state of things is arguably a fable. Second, when examining the dynamics of traditional processes it is advisable to consider the matter of symbolic equivalences. Third, traditions are arguably shaped by the interplay between individually-generated variations and community-enacted selection mechanisms. Overall, this essay examines some things narrative scholars have to say on tradition, and it submits that tradition pervades some of the things scholars have to say.

Illegal evictions? Overwriting possession and orality with law’s violence in Cambodia

by Simon Springer

Springer, S. Forthcoming. Illegal evictions? Overwriting possession and orality with law’s violence in Cambodia. Journal of Agrarian Change.

The unfolding of a juridico-cadastral system in present-day Cambodia is at odds with local understandings of... more The unfolding of a juridico-cadastral system in present-day Cambodia is at odds with local understandings of landholding, which are entrenched in notions of community consensus and existing occupation. The discrepancy between such orally recognized antecedents and the written word of law have been at the heart of the recent wave of dispossessions that have swept across the country. Contra the standard critique that corruption has set the tone, this paper argues that evictions in Cambodia are often literally underwritten by the articles of law. Whereas ‘possession’ is a well-understood and accepted concept in Cambodia, a cultural basis rooted in what James C. Scott refers to as ‘orality’, coupled with a long history of subsistence agriculture, semi-nomadic lifestyles, barter economies, and–until recently–widespread land availability have all ensured that notions of ‘property’ are vague among the country’s majority rural poor. In drawing a firm distinction between possessions and property, where the former is premised upon actual use and the latter is embedded in exploitation, this article examines how proprietorship is inextricably bound to the violence of law.

Communicating in Designing an Oral Repository for Rural African Villages

by Nicola J Bidwell

Reitmaier, T, Bidwell, NJ., Siya, M., Marsden, G., Tucker, B., Kotze, P. (2012) IST-Africa: Regional Impact of Information Society Technologies in Africa. Dar es Salem, Tanzania, May 2012. ", paper reference number 153, included in the IST-Africa 2012 Conference Proceedings

Abstract: We describe designing an asynchronous, oral repository and sharing system that we intend to suit the needs... more Abstract: We describe designing an asynchronous, oral repository and sharing system that we intend to suit the needs and practices of rural residents in South Africa. We aim to enable users without access to personal computers to record, store, and share information within their Xhosa community using cellphones and a tablet PC combined with their existing face-to-face oral practices. Our approach recognises that systems are more likely to be effective if the design concept and process build on existing local communication practices as well as addressing local constraints, e.g. cost. Thus, we show how the objectives for the system emerged from prolonged research locally and how we communicated insights, situated in the community, into the process of design and development in a city-based lab. We discuss how we integrated understandings about communication between situated- and localresearchers
and designers and developers and note the importance of recognising and centralising subtle differences in our perception of acts of oral communication. We go on to show how the materiality of the software, the tablet form factor, and touch
interaction style played into our collaborative effort in conceiving the design.

Le griot comme media (Niger)

by Sandra Bornand

Published in "African Media Cultures - Transdisciplinary Perspectives / Cultures de médias en Afrique - perspectives transdisciplinaires", Rose Marie Beck & Frank Wittmann (Ed.) (2004), pp. 159-169

Editorial

by Sandra Bornand

Co-authored with Ursula Baumgardt
Cahiers de littérature orale, n°65/2009 - Autour de la performance, Paris, INALCO, 2009

Editorial

by Sandra Bornand

Co-authored with Cécile Leguy
Cahiers de littérature orale, n°63-64/2008 - Pratiques d'enquêtes, Paris, INALCO, 2008

Une narration à deux voix

by Sandra Bornand

Published in "Cahiers de littérature orale, n°65/2009 - Autour de la performance", Paris, INALCO, 2010, pp.29-63

This article analyze an "extraordinary" narration by Djado Sekou, a Songhay-Zarma griot genealogist and... more This article analyze an "extraordinary" narration by Djado Sekou, a Songhay-Zarma griot genealogist and historian. It is narrated at the "Maison de la Radio" in Niamey on May 27 1987 and thus addresses a virtual audience, the radio audience. This poses an original problem for the griot who usually builds his narrations in direct interaction with his listeners. Djado Sekou must thus redefine his narrative strategy in order to adapt his discourse to his audience and his solution is totally original. Indeed, while numerous griots have narrated over the radio waves, only Djado Sekou narrates by using two voices, with the help of his co-performer, Karimou Saga. This article analyses this co-performence, its function and the representations it generates for Songhay-Zarma auditors.

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Cet article analyse une narration « extraordinaire » de Djado Sékou, un griot généalogiste et historien songhay-zarma (Niger). Le fait que celle-ci est narrée à la Maison de la Radio le 27 mai 1987 et qu'elle s'adresse donc à un auditoire virtuel, l'auditoire radiophonique pose un problème inédit au griot qui construit habituellement ses narrations directement en interaction avec ceux qui l'écoute. Il doit donc redéfinir sa stratégie narrative pour adapter son discours à ses auditeurs et la solution qu'il propose est tout à fait originale. En effet, si plusieurs griots ont réalisé des enregistrements à la radio, seul Djado Sékou met en place une narration à deux voix, à l'aide de son coénonciateur nommé Karimou Saga. Cet article analyse donc le problème de la coénonciation, de sa fonction et des représentations qu'elle induit chez les auditeurs songhay-zarma.

"Entre ciel et terre". De la construction d'une identité dans deux récits d'origine des Zarma (Niger)

by Sandra Bornand

Published in "Journal des Africanistes 79, 2 (2010)", pp. 13-42

This paper analyses the representations of the space through two narratives which relate the origin of Zarma, one... more This paper analyses the representations of the space through two narratives which relate the origin of Zarma, one people living today in the current Republic of Niger. Considered as narratives of ancestors by their official narrators, the jasare (a griot of history and genealogy), these two narratives speak mainly about space ; the space which Zarma occupie, cross, the spaces from where they come, where they die. That is why, unlike zarma tales, these narratives mention numerous place-names, recognizable for the greatest part. But the narrator does not stop in the geographical description of the space ; he completes it by the evocation of a social or / and physical space, which function is symbolic, and of a mythical space. Real space and mythical space eventually confuse to the point that the mythical seems real and the real mythical. Now all these representations of the space participate in the same purpose : the creation of a zarma identity and the legitimation of the occupation of the actual areas by Zarma.

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Cet article propose une analyse des représentations de l'espace à travers deux récits d'origine des Zarma, un peuple vivant aujourd'hui à l'ouest de l'actuelle République du Niger. Qualifiés de récits d'ancêtres par leurs énonciateurs attitrés, les jasare (griot généalogiste et historien), ces deux récits parlent principalement d'espace ; l'espace que les Zarma occupent, parcourent, l'espace d'où ils viennent, celui où ils meurent. C'est pourquoi, au contraire des contes zarma, ces récits mentionnent de nombreux toponymes, identifiables pour la plupart. Mais le narrateur ne s'arrête pas à la description géographique de l'espace ; il la complète par l'évocation d'un espace social ou / et physique, dont la fonction est symbolique, et d'un espace mythique. Espace réel et espace mythique finissent par se confondre au point que le mythique apparaît réel et le réel mythique. Or toutes ces représentations de l'espace participent au même but : la création d'une identité zarma et la légitimation de l'occupation des régions actuelles par les Zarma.

Insultes rituelles entre coépouses. Étude du marcanda (Zarma, Niger)

by Sandra Bornand

Published in "ethnographiques.org - revue en ligne de sciences humaines et sociales", numéro 7, Coordonné par Thierry Wendling et Olivier Schinz, avril 2005

In the Zarma area of the Niger, a woman whose husband gets married organizes a ceremony in which she asks married... more In the Zarma area of the Niger, a woman whose husband gets married organizes a ceremony in which she asks married women of the village to come and spend the day at her home. At nightfall, just before the newly-wed couple arrives, all the women form a half-circle : those who were taken as first wives start to insult those who were taken as second wives and vice-versa. This paper, which takes part in an upcoming research, is the first stage of a complete description of this ceremony. It offers a both ethnolinguistic and pragmatic approach of the first ten insults which mark the opening of the ceremony. It shows that the latter is ritual made of fictive insults which aim to channel the conflicts so that they are socially acceptable. The context of communication and the form of insults indeed create a « symbolic distance [which] serves to insulate this exchange from further consequences » (Labov, 1972 : 352).

Chants de douleur des femmes zarma (Niger)

by Sandra Bornand

Published in "La voix actée - pour une nouvelle ethnopoétique", sous la direction de Cl. Calame, Fl. Dupont, B. Lortat-Jacob, M. Manca, Paris, Kimé, 2010

When a man remarries, one sees – with Zarmas in Niger – a strictly feminine ritual that gets organized only at this... more When a man remarries, one sees – with Zarmas in Niger – a strictly feminine ritual that gets organized only at this occasion: the marcanda. This occurs in a particular social framework where women are represented in their relation to men as beings without social maturity. It is then a mean to funnel – in a socially acceptable form – the conflicts that polygamy generates. This ritual enables the collectivity to take care (collective care taking?) of the emotions that a women whose husband remarries can live. By doing that, it enables the women for whom the marcanda is organized to enter in the group of cowives, and to make this group exist beyond the conflicts that polygamy can generate between women.
This paper will study from a enunciative point of view the ritual process put in place to express both the taking care and putting into distance the sorrow (pain?) of their “sister of misfortune”.

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Lors du remariage d’un homme, on observe – chez les Zarma du Niger – un rite strictement féminin qui ne s’organise qu’en cette occasion : le marcanda. Celui-ci s’inscrit dans un contexte social particulier où les femmes sont représentées dans leur rapport aux hommes comme des êtres sans maturité sociale. Il est alors un moyen de canaliser – sous une forme socialement acceptable – les conflits que génère la polygamie. Ce rite permet une prise en charge collective des émotions que peut vivre une femme dont l’époux se remarie. Ce faisant, il permet à la femme pour qui est organisé le marcanda d’entrer dans le groupe des coépouses, et de faire exister celui-ci au-delà des conflits que la polygamie peut générer entre les femmes.
Cet article étudiera d’un point de vue énonciatif le processus rituel mis en place pour exprimer – à la fois – la prise en charge et la mise à distance de la douleur de leur « sœur d’infortune ».

From a sweet-smelling mouth to a well-tuned ear?: Testimony on the Diffusion of the Repertory of a Zarma Jasare in Niger

by Sandra Bornand

Published in "Research in African Literatures", September 22, 2007

Based on an account of a meeting between a young Western researcher and a Zarma "jasare" (a griot of history... more Based on an account of a meeting between a young Western researcher and a Zarma "jasare" (a griot of history and genealogy) of Niger, this article explores the problems connected with the collection, preservation and diffusion of oral literature. This is, obviously, a peculiar case, but it is illustrative enough to be invoked. Indeed, with the evolution of Zarma society, the training of the "jasare" has gradually declined so that today there is barely one left who knows the story of the incestors : Jibo Baje, alias "Jeliba". Aware that he is the last depository of the oral literature of the "jasare" and that none of his sons would replace him, he has entrusted the author with the mission of preserving and passing on his repertory to other cultures.

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A partir d'une rencontre entre une jeune chercheuse occidentale et un "jasare" Zarma (griot historien et généalogiste) du Niger, cet article examine les problèmes liés à la collecte, la préservation et la diffusion de la littérature orale. C'est évidemment un cas particulier, mais il est assez illustratif pour être évoqué. En effet, avec l'évolution de la société Zarma, la formation du "jasare" a progressivement diminué de sorte qu'aujourd'hui, il n'en reste qu'un qui sache encore réellement l'histoire des ancêtres : Jibo Baje, alias "Jeliba". Conscient qu'il est le dernier dépositaire de la littérature orale des "jasare" et qu'aucun de ses fils ne le remplacera, il a confié à l'auteur la mission de préserver et de transmettre son répertoire aux autres cultures.

To let the pictures talk

by Åsa Fredell

This article is the result of a paper read at a symposium held by Tanums Hällristningsmuseum/Scandinavian Society for... more This article is the result of a paper read at a symposium held by Tanums Hällristningsmuseum/Scandinavian Society for Prehistoric Art 25-26th July 2002, which addressed the role of the picture as an archaeological source. However, the picture as an archaeological source indicates a wide and diversified material and in this article I have chosen to depart from the southern Scandinavian rock art tradition, which consists of figurative pictures, symbols and geometrical designs pecked in stone. This tradition is in general dated to the years between 1800 BC and the starting point of our chronology.
My aim is to set a few points of departure for theoretical and methodological developments, when studying the societal and communicative role of pictures in a society based on oral tradition. Discussing "the active, contextual, talking and transformative picture" does this.
To add some balance and source criticism to our discussion, I finally refer to "the limited picture".