To Speak in Pairs Essays on the Ritual Languages of eastern Indonesia [Hardcover]

This collection of essays represents an important advance in the study of oral literature in context.Material for a detailed analysis of parallel composition, once viewed as a linguistic form unique to ancient Hebrew, but now seen as common to literatures around the world, is drawn from the culture of Eastern Indonesia.Material for a detailed analysis of parallel composition, once viewed as a linguistic form unique to ancient Hebrew, but now seen as common to literatures around the world, is drawn from the culture of Eastern Indonesia.These original essays study ritual language and parallelism (the strict ordering of words and phrases in alternative, duplicate form). The introduction puts the topic in historical perspective and what was once viewed as a composition form unique to ancient Hebrew is now seen as a feature common to literatures around the world. Here is the first book to compare in detail living traditions of parallel composition. Yet, despite the diversity of languages discussed by the contributors, their materials are drawn from a single cultural area still unknown to most specialists: Eastern Indonesia. All the essays contain original texts with translations and with detailed commentary on both content and context.Illustrations; The contributors; Acknowledgements; Introduction James J. Fox; 1. Etiquette in Kodi spirit communication: the lips told to pronounce, the mouths told to speak Janet Alison Hoskins; 2. Method in the metaphor: the ritual language of Wanukaka David Mitchell; 3. Li'i marapu: speech and ritual among the Wewewa of west Sumba Brigitte Renard-Clamagirand; 4. The pattern of prayer in Wey?wa Joel C. Kuipers; 5. Fashioned speech, full communication: aspects of eastern Sumbanese ritual language Gregory Forth; 6. Manu Kama's road, Tepa Nilu's path: theme, narrative, and formula in Rotinese ritual language James J. Fox; 7. The case of the purloined statues: the power of words among the Lionese Eriko Aoki; 8. The journey of the bridegroom: lc"