DOCSLIB.ORG

Questions in Narratives from Oral Tradition to Literature Milan

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Questions in Narratives from Oral Tradition to Literature Milan Questions in Narratives from Oral Tradition to Literature Milan Vidaković A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy University of Washington 2016 Reading Committee: Marshall Brown, Chair Olga Levaniouk John Webster Program Authorized to Offer Degree: Comparative Literature @Copyright 2016 Milan Vidaković University of Washington Abstract Questions in Narratives from Oral Tradition to Literature Milan Vidaković Chair of the Supervisory Committee: Professor Marshall Brown Department of Comparative Literature, Cinema & Media “Questions in Narratives from Oral Tradition to Literature” examines the functions of questions in fictional narratives. By attending to the interplay between performance and text, the dissertation encompasses both literature in the conventional sense and orature, a relative newcomer to literary studies that enriches the examination. The progression of chapters and of the material I analyze follows the development of narrative genres from epic song (an oral genre in an oral society; with chapters on South Slavic “The Song of Bagdad” and on Homer’s Iliad), to the New Testament epistles of Saint Paul (a written genre in a predominantly oral society), and novels (a written genre in a literate society, or at least one with access to printing technology and a distribution system; specifically Rabelais’ Gargantua and Pantagruel, Cervantes’ Don Quixote, and Sterne’s Tristram Shandy). My analysis relies on four intervening concepts: authority, performance, writing, and irony. Tracking the use of questions—primarily rhetorical ones— through this range of genres and periods I demonstrate that, in addition to the emphatic function that rhetoric has assigned them, questions: (a) project authority, (b) espouse an ethic through their deontic illocutionary force, (c) are fundamentally antithetical, if only in the right-vs-wrong sense, and (d) are ultimately heuristic. By identifying particular mechanisms and rhetorical functions, the dissertation lays out a framework for examining questions and questioning in narratives. In the Western oral tradition and subsequently literature, the functions of questions evolve as a result of the converging influences of the medium, genre, and historical conditions. Questions in South Slavic oral epic are characteristically devices of authority: social, epic, and narrative. Rhetorical questions in particular come as strong commands or deontic utterances. Strung together, they morph into powerful statements delivered at climactic moments. And when things go wrong, they counteract the inappropriate actions of those in power and restore justice and order. In the Iliad, the authority-challenging and topic-setting functions of questions merge, marking the beginnings of contentious speeches by heroes. More importantly, interrogative apostrophes and invocations to the muses by the singer/narrator mark narrative beginnings in narrative as well as in dialogue. In the New Testament, Saint Paul combines the authority of the written sources (Hebrew Bible) with the truth-seeking power of the educational oral genre of diatribe, using questions as the guiding principle of the new genre of catechism to assert the new truth. Early-modern comic novels too use the previous written sources to establish authority, but less by relying on them and filling in the gaps of what remains unsaid, and more by overriding them: the questions are ultimately mainly ironic, negating one side of the antithesis and leaving the other implied and open-ended, thus prompting the reader to actively engage in answering them. Finally, combining the theories on questions in philosophy of language (Michel Meyer), philosophy of science (Bas van Fraassen), and literature (Christoph Bode) leads to the conclusion that, while propositions are answers to questions, narratives are streamlined, after-the-fact distillations of the originally more complex questioning and problem-solving processes. Questions as markers of narrative beginnings ultimately reveal the primal logic of the structure of narrative, while at the same time pushing against ossification as the main characteristic of the medium of writing. Acknowledgements I have been fortunate to have an advisor who sees doctoral studies as apprenticeship, supporting me at exactly the right points in time and in just the right ways. Combining the rigorousness of academic excellence with generosity of spirit and action, Marshall Brown has been there for me at every step of the way, exposing my deficiencies, identifying my strengths, and always pushing me to push myself. I cannot imagine nor could have wished for a better advisor and mentor. Olga Levaniouk originally opened my eyes to the potential of incorporating my heritage in my academic work, and has over the years guided me with patience, precision, and intellectual vigor through the fields of oral tradition and Homeric studies. John Webster lent his expertise to my dissertation project at critical points: its beginning and end. Sarah Bryant-Bertail helped me prepare for my doctoral exams. Galya Diment prompted me to stretch my comparatist muscles in the final leg of my doctoral program. And John Sahr advocated for me during both doctoral exams. Yu Zhan originally steered me in the direction of comparative literature for my first master’s degree. Leroy Searle and Herbert Blau encouraged me to return to the mother ship of comparative literature for the doctoral degree. And Yuko Mera was there for me making it possible to navigate through the PhD program at the University of Washington. My dissertation is both a project on its own and a culmination of a longer journey. I owe much to the people around me who became a part of that journey. To my colleagues who have helped me develop my teaching—pedagogically and logistically—as I worked on my degree: Carrie Matthews, Norman Wacker, Henry Laufenberg, Karen Freisem, Lana Rae Lenz, Jennie Dorman, Wayne Jacobson, Anis Bawarshi, Charles LaPorte, Judy Okada, Elizabeth Simmons-O’Neill, Joan Graham, Lynn Hankinson-Nelson, Kathy Mork, Karla Tofte, and Karen Wennerstrom. To my advisors and teachers: Uchino Tadashi, Kawamoto Koji, Ljiljana Đurović-Marković, Ana Harpanj, Gordana Baračkov, and Mirjana Vuković. To my near and dear ones who have helped me learn to think rationally, critically, and occasionally provocatively: Yukie, Mrs. and Mr. Naito, Ramzi, and Sun-Hee. To my friends for their good cheer often paired with good food, drink, and hospitality: Tony, Patrick, David, Ema, Dao, Moe, Jon, Yumi, Alma, Nara, Chance, Ted, Zorica, Mrs. Edwards, Carlito, Sean, Xiaosong, Hiro, Ruben, Robert, Mike, Pablo, Mimi, Sue, and Caleb. And finally, to my parents and family for always being there for me. To Nada and Nana my pillars of order and wisdom Contents Introduction 1 I. South Slavic Epic 3 II. Homer’s Iliad 6 III. Pauline Epistles 7 IV. Early-Modern Comic Novel 8 V. Questions of Truth and Realism 10 First Chapter: Authority and Rhetorical Questioning: Wondering Heroes in South Slavic Epic12 I. Information-seeking Questions in “The Song of Bagdad” 12 I.1. Synopsis: Interrogative Actions in “The Song of Bagdad” 14 I.2. Asking for Permission, Approval, and Advice 25 I.3. Offers 27 I.4. Tension-Building Questions: Adding and Adding More and More Gradation 28 II. Rhetorical Questions 31 II.1. Rhetorical Functions of Questions 31 II.1.a. Recognition 31 II.1.b. Disbelief 32 II.1.c. Doubt 33 II.1.d. Excoriation 33 II.1.e. Orders and Summons 34 II.1.f. Greetings 34 II.2. Topic-Setting Questions: The Questioning Narrator 37 II.3. Slavic Antithesis 41 II.4. Battle of Questions: Questioning the Authority of the Questioning Authority 45 III. Realism of the Questioning and the Role of Authority 54 IV. Tension and Change in Word and in Deed 58 Second Chapter: Performing Questions in the Iliad 74 I. Agon and Antithesis 74 II. When Apostrophe and Questions Converge 82 III. Invocations and Authority 86 IV. Topic-Setting Questions as Invocations 91 V. Topic-Setting Questions as Narrative Beginnings 93 VI. Questions in Performance and Writing 97 Third Chapter: Canonizing through Catechism in the Pauline Epistles 102 I. Rhetorical Questions in Authentic Pauline Letters 102 II. The Role of Writing 114 II.1. Writing as a Medium of Authority 114 II.2. Performative Context: Written Composition, Oral Delivery, Shifting Voice 116 II.3. The Educational Role of Letter-writing and Diatribe 118 II.4. Shifting Authority in the Narrative of a Fictional Dialogue 122 III. The Narrative Function of Rhetorical Questions in Pauline Letters 124 Fourth Chapter: Ironic Questioning in the Early-Modern Comic Novel 131 I. Irreverent Authority: Framing in Rabelais’ Gargantua and Pantagruel 131 II. Learning through Irony: From Antithesis to Dialectic in Cervantes’ Don Quixote 143 II.1. Authority, Truth, Irony, Questions 143 II.2. Ironic Questions in Don Quixote 151 II.3. Open-endedness of Ironic Questions 169 III. Palimpsestic Reading: Unlearning in Sterne’s Tristram Shandy 182 Fifth Chapter: Questions in Narrative Fiction 191 I. Michel Meyer’s Problematology 196 II. Bas van Fraassen’s Pragmatics 198 III. Christoph Bode’s Nodality 201 IV. Real vs. Realism 205 Works Cited 207 1 Introduction Questions beg answers. “Sing, Goddess, the wrath of Achilles, son of Peleus!” exclaims Homer at the beginning of the Iliad, projecting a simple but powerful question: What is the wrath of Achilles? Ford Madox Ford makes the literary nature of the question even more direct when he starts The
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Orality in Writing: Its Cultural and Political Function in Anglophone African, African-Caribbean, and African-Canadian Poetry
    ORALITY IN WRITING: ITS CULTURAL AND POLITICAL FUNCTION IN ANGLOPHONE AFRICAN, AFRICAN-CARIBBEAN, AND AFRICAN-CANADIAN POETRY A Thesis submitted to the College of Graduate Studies and Research in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Department of English University of Saskatchewan Saskatoon By Yaw Adu-Gyamfi Spring 1999 © Copyright Yaw Adu-Gyamfi, 1999. All rights reserved. National Ubrary Bib!iotheque nationale 1+1 of Canada du Canada Acquisitions and Acquisitions et Bibliographic Services services bibliographiques 395 Wellington Street 395. rue Wellington Ottawa ON K1A ON4 Ottawa ON K1 A ON4 Canada Canada Your file Vol", ,eferet1C8 Our file Not,e ,life,encs The author has granted a non­ L' auteur a accorde une licence non exclusive licence allowing the exclusive permettant a la National Library of Canada to Bibliotheque nationale du Canada de reproduce, loan, distribute or sell reproduire, preter, distribuer ou copies of this thesis in microform, vendre des copies de cette these sous paper or electronic formats. la forme de microfiche/film, de reproduction sur papier ou sur format electronique. The author retains ownership of the L' auteur conserve la propriete du copyright in this thesis. Neither the droit d'auteur qui protege cette these. thesis nor substantial extracts from it Ni la these ni des extraits substantiels may be printed or otherwise de celle-ci ne doivent etre imprimes reproduced without the author's ou autrement reproduits sans son permISSlOn. autorisation. 0-612-37868-3 Canada UNIVERSITY OF SASKATCHEWAN College of Graduate Studies and Research SUMMARY OF DISSERTATION Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY by Yaw Adu-Gyamfi Department of English Spring 1999 -EXAMINING COMMITTEE: Dr.
    [Show full text]
  • Where Now the Harp? Listening for the Sounds of Old English Verse, from Beowulf to the Twentieth Century
    Oral Tradition, 24/2 (2009): 485-502 Where Now the Harp? Listening for the Sounds of Old English Verse, from Beowulf to the Twentieth Century Chris Jones nis þær hearpan sweg, / gomen in geardum, swylce ðær iu wæron (2458b-59)1 There is no sound of the harp, delight in courts, as there once were The way to learn the music of verse is to listen to it. (Pound 1951:56) Even within an advanced print culture, poetry arguably never escapes the oral dimension. For Ezra Pound, whose highly intertextual epic The Cantos, so conscious of its page appearance, could only be the product of such a print culture, poetry was nevertheless “an art of pure sound,” the future of which in English was to be the “orchestration” of different European systems of sound-patterning (Pound 1973:33). Verbal orchestration is meaningless without auditors; it goes without saying that the notion of oral literature simultaneously implies the concept of aural literature. This much is also evident from the very beginning of Beowulf: Hwæt, we Gar-Dena in geardagum, / þeodcyninga þrym gefrunon . (“Listen, we have heard of the Spear-Danes in times past, of the glory of the people’s kings . ,” lines 1-2). While the conventionality of the opening might suggest the evocation of a formulaic idiom often associated with oral composition,2 the emphasis is clearly on aurality, on hearing a voice. Much work has been done in recent decades on the evidence in Old English written texts for a poetics that draws on compositional methods derived from an oral culture, either as it had survived into a period of widespread literacy, or as it was imagined to have once existed.3 This essay will not directly address that valuable rehabilitation of oral-formulaic theory into a more sophisticated understanding of early medieval scribal culture, although it will draw on it at times.
    [Show full text]
  • The How of Literature
    Oral Tradition, 20/2 (2005): 164-187 The How of Literature Ruth Finnegan In a challenging article that starts not from the conventional Western literary canon but from traditional Japanese theatre, Andrew Gerstle (2000:43) has raised the interesting question of whether the concept of “performance literature” might be illuminating as an analytic and comparative tool when approaching the literatures of Africa and Asia. Further light on this has been shed by the impressive crosscultural range of the articles in this volume of Oral Tradition (20) and the comparative and interdisciplinary workshops that gave rise to them. My article also follows up Gerstle’s question, seeing it as of potential relevance not just for Africa or Asia but also for any literary forms in which performance has a part and thus for theories of “literature” more generally.1 It is a question well worth addressing. For despite the now-accepted problematizing of the concepts of “text” and of “literature,” conventional approaches to studying literature and literary theory still regularly bypass performance. As pointed out directly or indirectly in several of the articles here (notably those by Peter Middleton [2005] and John Miles Foley [2005]) the implicit starting point still seems to be that the defining heart of “literature” lies in “texts,” prototypically texts in writing; and that this is how and where literature exists. Most textbooks and glossaries on literature contain little or nothing about the complex performed aspects of literature in the sense of its realization as a publicly enacted display in the here and now; 1 My paper draws heavily on presentations, discussions, and follow-up interchanges related to the four comparative and interdisciplinary workshops on “Literature and Performance,” organized by Andrew Gerstle and Rosalind Thomas between 2001 and 2003 at the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London.
    [Show full text]
  • How the Villanelle's Form Got Fixed. Julie Ellen Kane Louisiana State University and Agricultural & Mechanical College
    Louisiana State University LSU Digital Commons LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses Graduate School 1999 How the Villanelle's Form Got Fixed. Julie Ellen Kane Louisiana State University and Agricultural & Mechanical College Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/gradschool_disstheses Recommended Citation Kane, Julie Ellen, "How the Villanelle's Form Got Fixed." (1999). LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses. 6892. https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/gradschool_disstheses/6892 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate School at LSU Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses by an authorized administrator of LSU Digital Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. INFORMATION TO USERS This manuscript has been rqxroduced from the microfilm master. UMI films the text directfy firom the original or copy submitted. Thus, some thesis and dissertation copies are in typewriter fiice, vdiile others may be from any typ e o f com pater printer. The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. Broken or indistinct print, colored or poor quality illustrations and photographs, print bleedthrough, substandard margins, and improper alignment can adversely affect reproduction. In the unlikely event that the author did not send UMI a complete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if unauthorized copyright material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. Oversize materials (e g., maps, drawings, charts) are reproduced by sectioning the original, b^innm g at the upper left-hand comer and continuing from left to right in equal sections with small overlaps.
    [Show full text]
  • African Language Books for Children: Issues for Authors Viv Edwards University of Reading, Reading, United Kingdom
    View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE provided by eCommons@AKU eCommons@AKU Institute for Educational Development, East Africa AKU-East Africa January 2011 African language books for children: issues for authors Viv Edwards University of Reading, Reading, United Kingdom Jacob Marriote Ngwaru Aga Khan University, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: http://ecommons.aku.edu/eastafrica_ied Part of the African Languages and Societies Commons Recommended Citation Edwards, V., Ngwaru, J. M. (2011). African language books for children: issues for authors. Language, Culture and Curriculum, 25(2), 123-137. Available at: http://ecommons.aku.edu/eastafrica_ied/14 Language, Culture and Curriculum ISSN: 0790-8318 (Print) 1747-7573 (Online) Journal homepage: http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/rlcc20 African language books for children: issues for authors Viv Edwards & Jacob Marriote Ngwaru To cite this article: Viv Edwards & Jacob Marriote Ngwaru (2012) African language books for children: issues for authors, Language, Culture and Curriculum, 25:2, 123-137, DOI: 10.1080/07908318.2011.629051 To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/07908318.2011.629051 Published online: 25 Oct 2011. Submit your article to this journal Article views: 201 View related articles Citing articles: 5 View citing articles Full Terms & Conditions of access and use can be found at http://www.tandfonline.com/action/journalInformation?journalCode=rlcc20 Download by: [INASP - Tanzania] Date: 14 February 2017,
    [Show full text]
  • The Development of Literate Potential in Literature-Based and Skills-Based Classrooms Zhihui Fang, University of Florida
    The Development of Literate Potential The Development of Literate Potential in Literature-Based and Skills-Based Classrooms Zhihui Fang, University of Florida Abstract This study examined young children’s developing understand- ing of written discourse in two instructional settings: literature-based and skills-based. Forty-one first graders were each requested to dictate two “written” stories for others to read at the beginning and end of the school year. The 82 texts were analyzed for their cohesive harmony, conformity to the socioculturally-codified genre conventions, and use of specific written language features. Quantitative analysis revealed statistically sig- nificant increases in cohesion and genre scores, but only marginal gains in the written language features measures. Further, the development of such written discourse knowledge was not significantly impacted by the instructional context. Qualitative analysis revealed that the children’s texts demonstrated impressive advances in the written mode of organiz- ing and communicating information to others, despite evidence of traces of oral discourse patterns and immature control over diverse genres. These findings are discussed in light of relevant literacy research and practice. Literacy is not a natural outgrowth from orality. Becoming literate in our soci- ety requires that children learn to take control over the written mode of communi- cation. In order to do this, they must come to terms with certain features of written discourse: its sustained organization, its characteristic rhythms and structures, its distinctive grammar, and its disembedded quality (Kress, 1994; Olson & Torrance, 1981; Wood, 1998). While home and community are important to the development of a literate mind, it is the school that is commonly considered the most important site for children’s literacy development.
    [Show full text]
  • 1. Alliteration, Consonance and Assonance 2. Allusion 3. Analogy 4. Apostrophe
    A Few Literary and Poetic Devices: (words underlined in bold represent “figurative” language) 1. Alliteration, consonance and assonance • The repetition of sounds where consonance uses consonants and assonance uses vowels Ex. From “The Raven” by Edgar Allan Poe Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered, weak and weary, Over many a quaint and curious volume of forgotten lore— While I nodded, nearly napping, suddenly there came a tapping, As of someone gently rapping, rapping at my chamber door. “’Tis some visitor,” I muttered, “tapping at my chamber door— Only this and nothing more.” 2. Allusion • a literary device in which an author uses subject matter refer to an event, place, or other work – usually not directly stated • An indirect reference to a piece of knowledge not explicitly mentioned in the text, e.g. “Chocolate was her Achilles Heel” Ex. When Nature sleeps and stars are mute, To mar the silence ev’n with lute. At rest on ocean’s brilliant dyes An image of Elysium lies:” 3. Analogy • A literary device that creates a relationship based on parallels or connections between two ideas. By establishing this relationship, the new idea is introduced through a familiar comparison, thus making the new concept easier to grasp. Analogy is more extensive and elaborate than either a simile or a metaphor. Ex. From Romeo and Juliet “What’s in a name? That which we call a rose By any other word would smell as sweet. So Romeo would, were he not Romeo called,” 4. Apostrophe • An apostrophe used in literature is an arrangement of words addressing a non-existent person or an abstract idea in such a way as if it were present and capable of understanding feelings.
    [Show full text]
  • Oral Tradition and Book Culture
    Edited by Pertti Anttonen,Cecilia af Forselles af Anttonen,Cecilia Pertti by Edited and Kirsti Salmi-Niklander Kirsti and 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 Oral Tradition and Book and Culture Oral Tradition 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. Oral Tradition 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 and Book Culture 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 Edited by roles of editors and publishers, introduced authorship to materials Pertti Anttonen, Cecilia af Forselles and Kirsti Salmi-Niklander customarily regarded as anonymous and collective? The editors of the anthology are Dr. Pertti Anttonen, Professor of Cultural Studies, especially Folklore Studies at the University of Eastern Finland, Dr. Cecilia af Forselles, Director of The Library of the Finnish Literature Society, and Dr. Kirsti Salmi-Niklander, University Lecturer in Folklore Studies at the University of Helsinki. studia fennica folkloristica 24 isbn 978-951-858-007-5 00.09; 81 9789518580075 www.finlit.fi/kirjat Studia Fennica studia fennica anthropologica ethnologica folkloristica historica linguistica litteraria Folkloristica Studia Fennica Folkloristica 24 T F L S (SKS) was founded in 1831 and has, from the very beginning, engaged in publishing operations.
    [Show full text]
  • Orality, Literacy and Pedagogical Implications in Traditional African Societies: the Bakor Experience in Cross River State, Nigeria
    International Journal of African History Cultures and Traditions Vol.1, No.2, pp. 60-81, September 2014 Published by European Centre for Research Training and Development UK (www.eajournals.org) ORALITY, LITERACY AND PEDAGOGICAL IMPLICATIONS IN TRADITIONAL AFRICAN SOCIETIES: THE BAKOR EXPERIENCE IN CROSS RIVER STATE, NIGERIA. Francis M. Ganyi Department of English and Literary Studies, University Of Calabar ABSTRACT: Knowledge acquisition, like all human interaction in the world depends on and is enhanced through verbal or written forms which, today, exist at parallels but are never dichotomous, yet oral cultures seem to be more pervasive than written cultures in many parts of the world. History and knowledge systems are located in memory, the personal lives, traditions and the mythical past of all communities in the world. Today, literature has commonly been associated with written forms yet most other cultures of the world, apart from western cultures, have produced a wide range of literary material all encoded in verbal or non-written genres. Oral discourses are, therefore, predominant in most indigenous communities all over the world and knowledge systems have as such been constructed and communicated through these oral discourses or verbal systems, with emphasis on graphic contextual performances. African verbal forms, perhaps, constitute the largest stock of literary material performed, sung or spoken in numerous social or ritualistic contexts. These enhance encoding of new meaning and knowledge through the transmission of ideas and in most contexts, oral or verbal communication surpasses all other forms of communication. Despite this importance of orality, the supposed supremacy of a scientific consciousness which is enhanced by writing has become coterminous with the relegation of verbal performances leading to the failure to understand the nature and function of oral literature and its pedagogical content amongst oral cultures.
    [Show full text]
  • Folklore, Orality and Tradition
    Chapter-1 Introduction: Folklore, Orality and Tradition The study of folklore is inclusive of many different disciplines that overlap and intermingle with each other. Disciplines like anthropology, psychology, sociology, literary studies and women’s studies, linguistics, all come together to study the folklore in wider terms. It becomes essential to understand and analyse folk literature in the light of above disciplines to get a better understanding of the culture and history behind the given oral literature. Folklore surpasses boundaries of time in a way that it brings the culture and civilization of the past and merges it with the future for a better understanding. It continuously flows with the civilization by adopting different forms on the course of its journey. That way, it never gets struck in one time. It is not a static thing to be stored and preserved in any one form which struts itself as the ‘original. It is continuously and spontaneously being produced by the people who are blissfully ignorant of its various facets and its profound effect on the modern civilization. It is no more a thing of the rural or semi-urban masses but it is very much a part of the modern world. Many attempts have been made to define, categorize and theorize the term ‘folklore’ through words that can give it a concrete meaning. Folklore does not only include what is passed orally from one generation to another rather it encompasses everything including the cultural norms, behavioral codes, individual identities, feelings and emotions, religious beliefs, and experiences of not only a particular race or nationality but also of each individual living through it.
    [Show full text]
  • Parallelisms in Arabic: Morphological and Lexical, Syntactic, and Textual
    International Journal for Innovation Education and Research www.ijier.net Vol.2-11, 2014 Parallelisms in Arabic: Morphological and Lexical, Syntactic, and Textual Hisham Monassar, Ph.D. Assistant Professor Department of English and Foreign Languages Cameron University Abstract Parallelism in Arabic is investigated through data from three Arabic varieties: Modern Standard Arabic (MSA), Classical Arabic (CA), and (Yemeni) Adeni Arabic (AA). Parallelism in Arabic is examined at different linguistic levels: morphological and lexical, syntactic, and textual. Parallelism seems to be inherent and is more likely in writings that aim to convince or restate theses and topics. However, the occurrence of parallelisms is genre- specific, purpose-oriented, and situation/context-dependent. It is predictable in sermons, public speeches/addresses, and opinion writing. Apparently, parallelism, particularly beyond reduplication and lexical level, triggers resonance in the mind of the listener/reader, retaining the respective information in short term memory and thus marking it for emphasis. Keywords: (Modern Standard) Arabic, Classic Arabic, Adeni Arabic, parallelism, repetition, cohesion, coherence, resonance, assonance, oral tradition, and emphasis. 1. Introduction It is worth noting that the phenomenon of parallelism is rather a linguistic universal, not a quality exclusive to Arabic. It is a well-known fact that all languages have been spoken before they were ever written, and as such they have developed their own tools and styles. Such styles and tools have been lumped as the oral tradition. In contrast to written language, which is precise and more linguistically economical, they rely on alliteration, reiteration, repetition, rhyming, assonance and resonance much like poetry. Not only did this tradition rendered texts, and hence their contents, memorable and quotable, but also enhanced the esthetic value of the form and its presentation.
    [Show full text]
  • Doconst,M!Sons
    Doconst,m!sons ED 1.61 038 ( CS 204 406 AUTHOR Day, Robert, Ed.; Weaver, Gail Cohen,'Ed. TITLE Creative Writing its the Classroom: An Annotated Bibliography of Selected Resources (K-12). INSTITUTION ERIC Clearinghouse on Xeaaing and Communication Skills, Urbana, Ill.; National Council of Teachers of English, Uibana, Ill. SPOONS AGENCY National Inst. of Education (DHEW), Washington, D.C. PUB DATE 78 CONTRACT 400-75-0029 NOTE . 122p. AVAILABLE FROM National 'Council of Teachers of English, 1111 Kenyon Road, Urbana, Illinois 61801 (Stock No. 09284, $4.75 member, $5.50 non-member) -141BS PRICE M7-$0.83 HC -$6.01 Plus Postage. DTSCRIPTORS *Annotated ibliographies; *ComposIption (Literary); *Creative Writing; Drama; Elementary Secondary -Education; Fiction; Poetry; *Resource Materials; *Teaching Techniques; *Theories IDENTIFIERS Information'Analysis-Products ABSTRACT This bibliography annotates over 700 'books and,, articles published from 1950 to 1976 that discuss the teaching of -creative writing in the elementary and secondary classroom. It'is intended to enable teachers to lotate a variety of materials to aid in planning teaching approaches and techniques and to help teachers and students pursuing studies on the teaching of creative writing to learn abcut relevant research studies and teaching trends. The entries are divided into four categories: theory (the value of Creative writing, teacher- and classroom-related factors, and research findings);yoractice (teaching the writing process, teaching poetry writing, teaching fiction aid drama writing, and materials for student-use-H--results (respondineto student- work and publishing student work); and special resources (anthologies of student work, magazines that publish student work, writing contests, and other resources).
    [Show full text]