Performing through the Past: Ethnophilology and Oral Tradition1
2003; Western States Folklore Society; Volume: 62; Linguagem: Inglês
ISSN
2325-811X
Autores Tópico(s)Theatre and Performance Studies
ResumoThey say I'm overrated, musicians really hate it My name is Run, I'm number one, It's very complicated It's Tricky to rock a rhyme, to rock a rhyme that's right on time It's Tricky . . . It's Tricky, Tricky, Tricky, Tricky Run D.M.C. [So I rise up early to erect my rhyme, My tongue toils, A servant at his task; I pile the praise stones, The poem rises, My labour is not lost, Long may my words live.] Egil Skallagrimsson2 During the past three decades, folklorists have focused considerable attention on the study of traditional performance, proposing that an understanding of folk expressions derive in large part from an understanding of the emergent nature of traditional expression in dynamic performative contexts (Lord 1960; Bauman 1977; Hymes 1962 and 1975; Toelken 1969). The underlying idea of what might be called a centered approach to the study of tradition is that the meanings for performer and audiences alike are created dynamically, and arise during performance. Meaning, accordingly, is contingent and neither predetermined nor absolute. The important theoretical advances in the study of traditional expression attendant this emphasis on performance have led to significant changes in the way in which we understanding variation and persistence (Lord 1960; Foley 1990), and the ways in which we consider genre (Degh 1962; Holbek 1987); they have allowed us to explore aspects of memory (Rubin 1995; Siikala 1990), and have helped us address the role of local and global political considerations that often inform traditional expression (Mills 1990; Reynolds 1995; Bendix 1997). In this model, traditional expression becomes rightfully linked to the historically situated performers and audiences-tradition does not exist outside of the tradition participants-and our studies now acknowledge more than ever the embeddedness of traditional expressions in their performative contexts. This emphasis on performance context, however, unfortunately led some folklorists to conclude that this approach precluded the study of earlier traditional expressions since, in many cases, these early records were not linked in any way to descriptions of performance contexts, nor did there appear to be much ancillary evidence concerning the methods and contexts for performance. Furthermore the dating and provenance of these early texts was at times quite muddled. For some of these oriented scholars, everything from classical and medieval texts based in part on oral traditions through the great folklore collections of the nineteenth century became suspect. This intellectual development was somewhat surprising, since many of the early advances in the study of performance were initiated by scholars primarily interested in earlier traditions. In addition to questions about the usefulness of earlier collections, concerns were raised about the traditional nature of many of these early texts and their relationship to oral tradition-for instance, since the only records of the presumed performances were these literary ones, did these texts truly reflect oral performance? One need only think of Saxo the Grammarian's twelfth century rewriting of Nordic legends to recognize some of the difficulties confronting scholars of early traditions in light of the importance of performance studies. Not only did Saxo write his chronicle of the Danes in Latin, apparently translating many of the presumably oral stories that lay behind much of the composition, but he also edited, rewrote and reorganized his materials into a more or less coherent narrative (Olrik et al. 1931-1957). Perhaps less extreme cases, such as the Icelandic sagas, the authors of which most likely relied on both written and oral sources, might be more fitting examples for an exploration of performance in medieval Scandinavia. Yet these texts as well seem to be nearly impenetrable given the extraordinary complexity of tracing sources and the highly speculative enterprise of listening for the lost echoes of long vanished voices in performance. …
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