Running head: THE LAZY GIANT 1 The Lazy Giant: A Mokilese Myth in Conversation Dyan Rizzo-Busack Swarthmore College December 2014 Author's Note I would like to thank the Swarthmore Linguistics Department for this opportunity. Most especially a sincere thanks to my thesis advisor, K. David Harrison for first encouraging and fueling my interest in creation stories, for his suggestions on the focus of this paper, and for all of his help from start to finish. Thank you to all of my mentors and friends who supported me as I worked on this project. THE LAZY GIANT: A MOKILESE MYTH IN CONVERSATION 2 Abstract The telling of the myth Ledup, The Lazy Giant by two young Mokilese men, Edward Mullins and Gary Albert, is the central focus of this research. As a spoken story that the entire island of Mokil Atoll knows, but only the younger generation will tell, The Lazy Giant provides insight into Mokilese folktales and their place in the community. Since The Lazy Giant is within the context of a culture undergoing change and balancing traditions with outside influences, I explore how the story is told and also how it relates to other similar Micronesian legends. The story contains references to ideas present in other myths that combine to form the concept of the giant within Micronesian folklore. My discussion of this myth uses a transcription of the English version of the story, as it is told in both Mokilese and English. Since Mullins and Albert tell the story together, the structure of the myth within a conversational narrative and the physicality of the speakers play a role in how I unpack the presentation and flow of the story. My research addresses the themes present in the legend, including protectors, the creation and destruction of nature, and foreigners as a danger. The paper also analyzes the relationship between the legend and the community, including how components of the tale relate and reflect the location, history, and perspectives of the Mokilese people. THE LAZY GIANT: A MOKILESE MYTH IN CONVERSATION 3 Table of Contents Transcription ........................................................................................................................................ 4 Transcription Conventions .......................................................................................................................... 4 Transcription of The Lazy Giant ................................................................................................................. S 1 Introduction ....................................................................................................................................... 9 1.1 Summary of Myth .................................................................................................................................. 10 1.2 Transcription Methods ........................................................................................................................ 11 1.3 Literature Review ................................................................................................................................. 12 1.4 Background ofMokil Atoll. ................................................................................................................. 14 2 Comparison to Other Micronesian Legends .......................................................................... 17 2.1 What are Giants in Micronesia? ........................................................................................................ 17 2.2 Making the Islands ................................................................................................................................ 19 2.3 Interactions with the Islands/Islanders ........................................................................................ 21 2.4 Giants- A Force to be Reckoned with ............................................................................................ 23 3 Internal References ....................................................................................................................... 26 3.1 Mythological Themes ........................................................................................................................... 26 3.2 Geography ................................................................................................................................................ 27 3.3 Historical Contact .................................................................................................................................. 29 3.4 Culture ...................................................................................................................................................... 30 4 Myth in Conversation .................................................................................................................... 33 4.1 Structure ofMyth ................................................................................................................................... 33 4.2 Role of Co-teller: Pauses and Insertions ........................................................................................ 34 4.3 Situation/ Context: ................................................................................................................................ 37 4.4 Specific Phrases ..................................................................................................................................... 39 Conclusion ............................................................................................................................................ 41 References ............................................................................................................................................ 43 THE LAZY GIANT: A MOKILESE MYTH IN CONVERSATION 4 Edward Mullins & Gary Albert on the Mokil Atoll (screenshot from EnduringVoices, 2014) Transcription To begin, below is a transcription of the myth of Led up, The Lazy Giant as told by Edward Mullins and Gary Albert. K. David Harrison recorded this storytelling on July 26, 2013 on the Mokil Atoll in the Federated States of Micronesia. I have only transcribed the English portion is transcribed, but it was first told in Mokilese. Transcription Conventions (Norrick, 2000, p.xxiii) Falling tone in preceding element ? Rising tone in the preceding element Continued intonation Speaker abruptly stops word [ Start of overlapping speech ] End of overlapping speech = No pause between two people speaking ( Timed pauses (( Timestamp { Untranscribable elements or use of Mokilese ### Unsure of speech THE LAZY GIANT: A MOKILESE MYTH IN CONVERSATION 5 Transcription of The Lazy Giant (EnduringVoices, 2014) Edward Mullins: E Gary Albert: G K. David Harrison: D ((0:00)) 1 E: Eh, we- we- we- eh, Mokilese 2 we use (1.8) 3 long time ago 4 {Mokilese} 5 okay, this is how I'm gonna start 6 {Mokilese} ((0:13)) to ((3:15)) in Mokilese ((3:15)) 7 D: Okay. Can you say just a few sentences in English of what the story's about? 8 G: Uh. 9 The story's about 10 the Mokilese giant, Ledup 11 Uh [it's about] 12 E: [a very strong man] 13 G: he's [a very strong man] 14 E: [but lazy] ((3:30)) 15 G: =a very lazy giant. 16 Like all he does is just sleep. 17 Like urn the way that the people here wake him up is 18 uh remember the bell. 19 It's named the Rock. 20 That's how they waked him up. 21 You have to go and throw stones at it ((3:45)) 22 So like 23 so he can hear it. 24 Like, (2.1) urn, (2.3) 25 E: about traders 26 G: ohyeah. 27 He protect like, 28 he protect the people from like 29 people who like 30 the traders, whalers, (1.0) ((4:00)) THE LAZY GIANT: A MOKILESE MYTH IN CONVERSATION 6 31 when [they come to{###}] 32 E: [when people try to come] (1.6) 33 G: like all he does is just [sleep] 34 E: [Mm-hm] 35 G: and protect the people. (1.3) 36 And then 37 one day the people of Mokil (1.0) 38 they decided to like [just to] 39 E: [{Mokilese}] ((4:13)) 40 G: try to find his weakness 41 cause he's very strong. 42 So, they= 43 E: =Came one day, one day= 44 G: =One day they decided to like 45 try and see 46 who could stay 47 under the water the longest= 48 E: =a contest= 49 G: =yeah like a contest 50 E: all the [men in Mokil] ((4:30)) 51 G: [all the men on the island] 52 E: strong men go and 53 G: so they did it 54 and they go underneath the water 55 and try to stay 56 for as long as they can= ((4:42)) 57 E: =for [like one day] 58 G: =try to hold their breath under the like 59 under the 60 in the{###}. (2.5) 61 So one by one the men came up 62 and then, as after the last man came up, 63 they thought that Led up already drowned. (2.0) 64 So it's been said that after five years, ((5:02)) 65 he tried to came up, 66 but the corals, they already grow on top of him. (0.9) 67 E: =So- 68 G: So he couldn't move, (1. 7) 69 And, they said like 70 he's the reason why, 71 the island became three 72 because he [was underneath it] THE LAZY GIANT: A MOKILESE MYTH IN CONVERSATION 7 73 E: [it split it] into three= 74 G: =and he tried to [come up] ((5:20)) 75 E: [when he tried to come] 76 G: people thought it was an earthquake 77 E: [but] 78 G: [cause he] moved all the islands apart, (1.2) 79 and, that is how he died, 80 underneath, 81 underneath the ocean. 82 E: Outside {gesturing with left arm} {Mokilese} 83 G: {Mokilese} 84 E: {Mokilese} ((5:44)) 85 D: thank you, that's great. 86 Very, interesting story. 87 Now we know how the island was created. 88 E: Mhm 89 G: Most like 90 most of the kids like 91 everybody knows the story. 92 Like even, mo-