Oral Traditions and the Verbal Arts: A Guide to Research Practices [Hardcover]

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.Provides up-to-date guidance on how to approach the study of oral forms and their performances, examining both the practicalities of fieldwork and the methods by which oral texts and performances can be observed, collected and analysed.`... enormous utility to anyone - beginning or experienced - undertaking gathering of verbal art in the field or attempting to deal with verbal art gathered by others.' - Anthropos1 Introduction: scope and terminology 1.1 Preview 1.2 Language, speech and text: some initial questions 1.3 Some central termsaccepted and disputed 1.4 Text(s): a special case 1.5 The interest of the problems 2 Theoretical perspectives 2.1 The role of theory 2.2 Continuing methodological tensions 2.3 Background to studies of oral tradition and verbal art 2.4 Influential methodologies and theories 2.5 Current trends 3 Some prior issues and practicalities 3.1 Some strategic questions 3.2 Background preparation 3.3 Recording equipment 3.4 Relevance for archive research 4 Collecting, recording and creating texts: preliminaries and mechanics 4.1 Some initial techniques and provisos lcÃ