Stories of Creation

For this week, I am going to make a short presentation (10 -15) minutes, in which we will listen to three creation stories of three different native American tribes. After listening to the recorded stories, we will discuss them together for few minutes to discover the similarities between the three of them. I find it necessary to remind you that story telling is a basic part of the study of the oral verbal art of the primitive people. In other words, it is a basic part of ethnopoetics.

Story 1
The Yuchi Story of Creation

Story 2
The Cherokee story of Creation

Story 3

Crow Tales of Coyote

What is a Poet Doing in the Cave?

Schwerner’s Tablets was not that appealing to me like Eshleman’s Juniper Fuse. Eshleman discovers the imagination of the ice age and expresses it in an imaginative way. When I first started reading the book, I thought it is concerned with archeology or something of that sort. Later, I discovered that is book is really experimental which combines scientific knowledge, poetry, story telling and even theory altogether. It is inspired by the images of the past and expresses in new present forms. Eshleman is the one who managed to go out of the cave and saw the light (Platonic connotations). He teaches the truth to those who were not able to see it inside the cave in a Platonic poetic language. The images of the cave are inseparable from poetry, history and the truth. This is what the poet is doing in the cave. He went out, contrary to Plato who thinks that Philosophers only are able to go out of the cave and see the light.

Alcheringa

Objectives of Alcheringa, as a distinguished poetry magazine, can serve as the objectives of our ethnopoetics course. Like Alcheringa, our course aims at "understanding what a poem may be", "providing a ground for experiments" in translation and transcription, discovering "tribal poetries as values in themselves" and practicing the primitive as a performance. First I wondered why they named it "the dreaming", then I realized the connotations of the name when I read the quotation "He who loses his dreaming is lost". This is true; dreaming is a sign of life, and by the time we stop dreaming, we die. It is a kind of a rebirth for the tribal poetics.
The quotations at the beginning of issue one as well as the selections of poetry are extremely touching. They reveal a natural deity and show a form of belonging to the land, deer, trees and bears. "I was a tree that lost it leaves. Am I dead?"

In Davidson's essay on audio tapes, I was not that much interested in the serviceable use of audio-tapes he mentions like showing the textual and contextual dimensions of the literary work or the details of composition, dates, places, and historical and biographical context. I was interested in the idea how can we as critics deal with the text on the tape and the voice of the author in such a "text"? Critics can't avoid being possessed with the poets actual voice. I wonder what Roland Barth would say in this regards. Another interesting idea is that a text can be deconstructed, but a tape can't because it is a performance that consists of signs and a voice! Another question for Derrida.
I found Dell Hymes’s essay on dimensions of performance and its cultural aspects not appealing to me, and some of it is redundant to what we have previously discussed on performance.

A Proposal & a question

A TENTATIVE PROPOSAL FOR THE FINAL RESEARCH PAPER

My final project will focus on the transcription experiment I did in class. It will be a kind of elaboration for the methodology of transcription, its representation on the page, problems of translation ( tense, word order, absence of some words, untranslatables, verbosity, usage of slang), and the characteristics of orality in the text. This involves employing Tedlock’s method of transcription explained in both his introduction to “Finding the Center” and “Because he Made Marks on Paper, the Soldiers Came”. The tone of the paper is expected to be subjective more than being objective.


A question on Performance

The following quotations are from The Rise and Fall of English for Robert Scholes, Yale University press, 1998.

“ In good old days, before there were professors of English, there were teachers or oratory and belles letters who themselves practiced belletristic oratory. They did what they taught and they taught what they did.” 9 “ the climax of education of this time was the moment when each student took the podium to deliver an oration under the watchful eyes of men who were themselves admired for the eloquence of their own oratory.” 7 “ belles letters and eloquence describe an oratorical performance… in these orations the rhetorical power of persuasion and aesthetic power of literature are conceived as one thing, not differentiated as we do regularly differentiate them but seen as a unified power to move and stir an audience with language.” 7 “ An oration was meant to be both moving and beautiful object in its own right.” 8

My question: In the light of our study of Ethnopoetics, do you think the power of persuasion is a part of performance?

On Theories of Performance

Bauman’s chapters are of those tough theoretical material that aim at developing an understanding of “the verbal art as a performance,” and “ performance as a mode of speaking.” I liked his analysis of the nature of performance starting from the nature of verbal art as something different from the normal use of language, but aims at communicating with others in uncommon way to attract the attention. Another idea that uncommonly attracted my attention was his elaboration on performance as an “interpretative frame” contrasting with the literal communication. He mentions some interpretative frames of performance like insinuation, joking, imitation, translation, and quotation. These are the actual differences between performance and a printed text in conveying the meaning. Later, Bauman elaborates on the keying features of performance which are “ communicative means” that distinguish performances” from non-performances”.
These Keying features were used by Dr. Sherwood, particularly the paralinguistic features, in his essay “ Elaborative Versionings:..” to analyze the “performativity” of the poems of Baraka, Vicuna and Brathwaite. I liked his consideration of the publication of the poems as performance and I liked his analysis of the frames used by the three poets which include strong voice, space, tone, pause, pitch, repetition, variation of patterns, force of sound and rhythm.

Schencher’s work, despite very long, was very appealing to my argumentative mind. One of the most important points that interests me highly in his discussion is the concept of time particularly in drama with a special reference to Samuel Beckett’s works. I am interested in this subject in particular for my dissertation. His concern regarding this point differs from mine. He is concerned with “the real time of performance,” while I am concerned with time as a means of literary analysis.

“One Night Sons” was the only reliving part of our readings for this week. It brought me back to the mood of poetry reading for the sake of enjoyment and appreciation “ art for arts sake” or “poem per se”. I was amazed with the amount of repetition in the deer songs and I wonder if they use this repetitions for the same purpose used by Vicuna in her performance of “ Adiano y Azumbar” !! What I can say that deer songs are “ washed by the flower” if compared to the other texts that I read tonight.

Transcription Experiment

TEDLOCK'S method of transcription,
[normal voice] explained in the introduction of Finding the Center as well as Because he made Marks on Paper,
is a form of total translation that takes into consideration,
[deeper voice] not only the meanings of words,
but also the details of performance including silence periods,
intonation, long time of distance
and even errors in performance.
[gravelly] I like his longing for accuracy, his improvement of translation
and retranslation.
[enthusiastically] An interesting point I enjoyed while reading his attempt
to classify
The oral narrative of the Zuni as____
drama, poetry and prose
and his discussion of the limitations of each classification.
This is in addition to his attempt to translate the untranslatables mmmm

[normal] Regarding “people Either Go Click”
[enthusiastically and gravelly] I WOULD LOVE TO LISTEN to that Tape in class while reading the transcription. Yeah
It would be the fun of learning.


I find that Young’s method of transcription is
More STRUCTURAL and fits those who seek a specific
theme or element in the oral narrative.
[louder]SHE LIKES organizing narratives into “major divisions”
on the basis of something (WHAT SHE SEEKS).
[gravelly] I liked Tedlock’s most, and I think I will employ it one day.

“I cure with language”

This gigantic work made by Rothenberg and others in the fields of Ethnopoetics and translation proves that they insist to show that the “black is not the concern of the black only or the red is not the concern of the red only”. This is because they were able to cross the boundaries that separate people of different races and cultures. When I imagine that great effort done by those interested in Ethnopoetics, I highly appreciate what they did and what they are doing and have the desire to be like them. For sure they cure with language, if not, how can I explain their zest to translate and handle the untranslatable elements in the original poetics of the native Americans or those many sounds that were not strictly speaking words? They could have ignored them altogether, but they would be disloyal to their profession and to the works they are working on. Even it goes beyond the matter of disloyalty, it is a quest for a healing desire “ the motive behind the punning was, the desire to bring across (translate) the feeling of the Seneca word.” It is extremely interesting that interest in translating the meaning, the atmosphere, the tone and the feelings of words. This great effort requires relentless work, and springs from a cathartic effect of the language on the translators. The proper work of translation cures their desire of perfection, “ translation is carry-over. It is a means of delivery & of bringing to life. It begins with a forced change of language, but a change too that opens up the possibility of greater understanding.”

Orality & Reading

Orality

In Orality and Literacy: The Technologizing of the Word. Ong's discusses the difference between orality and literacy. He is primarily concerned with oral cultures and their transition to “chirographic cultures”. Ong contends that literacy (particularly alphabetic print literacy) is necessary "for the development not only of science but also history, philosophy, understanding of literature and of any art, and indeed for the explanation of language (including oral speech) itself" (15).

He considers writing as “ a secondary modeling system, dependent on a prior primary system, spoken language” writing cannot exist without orality which in turn didn’t reduce orality but enhanced it. Later he rejects calling the oral verbalization as “ oral literature” because the word ‘literature’ indicates writing. He also refuses calling it a ‘text’ or ‘preliterate’ because both show that orality as deviant from the secondary modeling system. He prefers using ‘epos’ or ‘voicings’ to refer to the oral art. Foley says something similar when he states that “ oral poetry is not any one thing. It names forms of verbal art as various as oral performance, voiced texts, voices from the past, and written oral poetry.” 79.


Ong asserts that oral cultures “relied on formulaic constitution of thought” that “ were essential for wisdom and effective administration” According to Ong, the Greeks of Homer's age relied on such formulaic uses of language to aid in the retention of knowledge. Without writing, if thoughts were not expressed in easily remembered forms and were not constantly repeated, they would be lost. Then he considers further characteristics of orally based thought and expression.

Reading

An interesting point discussed in several articles of this week's readings is the question of READING. Ong says that “ reading a text means converting it to sound,……writing can never dispense with orality” (8) and somewhere on page 17 he says, “ writing simply re-presents spoken language in visible form.” On the other hand, Foley adds to what Ong has said when he says, “ To read is to decode, to generate meaning from signs. WE DON’T NEED AN LPHABET OR EVEN A TEXT TO DO THAT.” (80) I find myself obliged to support this view because the word ‘read’ in Arabic doesn’t indicated reading from a written text only but also means reciting orally. The prophet Mohammed was a primary oral person who was not touched by writing. The first commencement of revelation took place when he was in the cave of Hira. The angel came to him and asked him to read. The Prophet replied, "I do not know how to read. The Prophet added, "The angel caught me (forcefully) and pressed me so hard that I could not bear it any more. He then released me and again asked me to read and I replied, 'I do not know how to read.' Thereupon he caught me again and pressed me a second time till I could not bear it any more. He then released me and again asked me to read but again I replied, 'I do not know how to read (or what shall I read)?' Thereupon he caught me for the third time and pressed me, and then released me and said, “Read in the name of your Lord, who has created (all that exists), has created man from a clot of congealed blood. Read! And thy Lord is Most Bountiful, He Who taught (the use of) the pen, Taught man that which he knew not " (96.1-6) These were the first verses revealed from the Holy Quran. They apparently state that reading doesn’t need a written text to take place, and show that language is an oral phenomenon while writing “re-presents spoken language in visible form”.

Symposium of the Whole

Ethnopoetics as an emerging "discourse"

Ethnopoetics as the study of the verbal art of the ‘pre-literate’ cultures is extremely thrilling and motivating to me for one basic reason that is “the past is something we discover and create through a desire to know what it is to be human, anywhere” (Symposium xii) Unlike history, Ethnopoetics is the study and ‘practice’ of the human experience through time that brings joy. I have never heard of someone practiced history or felt joy with all periods of history. And, unlike poetry, Ethnopoetics has its own supra-semantic elements that are directly associated with the verbal art such as; the social life of the tribe, the occasion of the song, the performance of the song, and the spirituality reflected and gained through the performance. These supra-semantic elements are not related to the written word of poetry like they are with the oral chant. This is why I was a little bit upset when Rothenberg makes intersections and analogies between the “primitive” (I don’t like this word and prefer using pre-literate instead) and the modern in his preface to Technicians of the Sacred and which are also explained in Castro’s essay. I find such a comparison irrelevant; it is exactly like comparing a rabbit to a turtle on the basis of having four legs, a head, eyes and both are animals. It will be inequitable to Ethnopoetics to see the little similarities and not to see the great differences between both of them particularly the ORALITY of the pre-literate. It is exactly like the one who visits China and talks about defects in their fabrics and doesn’t talk about the Great Wall of China.

How are culture and the primitive defined?

The “ primitive” and civilized cultures are usually distinguished on the basis of “alphabetic literacy alone” (Symposium xiii) excluding or setting a part “those oral traditions that together account for the greatest human diversity” (ibid) but ethnopoetics requires that “ the old excluded orders must be included” (xii) like the oral tradition, the female, the animal, the vegetation…etc. to reflect a kind of totality or a symposium of the whole.

I am everyman

After reading and listening to both Maria Sabina and a “Fast Speaking Woman”, I touched the difference between Maria Sabina as a person of “primary orality” and Anne Waldman as a “secondary oral” person. To explain what I mean I have to quote Walter Ong, who distinguished between both types of orality “ Human beings in primary oral cultures, those untouched by writing in any form, learn a great deal and possess and practice great wisdom, but they do not ‘study’” (Orality and Literacy 9) “ People of secondary orality “ those touched by writing and those who study” don’t have that wisdom. I don’t know to what extent this generalization is correct, but I felt the difference between the sound of the learned Waldman and the oral Sabina. I can’t figure out what the nature of that difference is. I think it is what Ong calls the fascination of human beings with the power of the oral. “ Proverbs from all over the world are rich with observations about this overwhelmingly human phenomenon of speech in its native oral form, about its powers, its beauties, its dangers. The same fascination with oral speech continues for centuries after writing comes into use.” (ibid) and because of my fascination with this oral tradition I will follow the steps of Maria Sabina and Anne Waldman’s fast speaking woman and Say.
I am a Palestinian man
“I am a no-nothing” man
“I am a know-it-all” man
I am a distressed man
I am a happily married man
I am a nothing man
I am everything man
I am everyman

What makes Voltaire a great philosopher and native Americans primitive savages !!!!?

“God of all beings, of all worlds, and all times; .... may the small differences between the clothes that cover our weak bodies, between our inadequate languages, between our many ridiculous customs, between our imperfect laws, between our numerous foolish opinions .... may all these tiny nuances that distinguish the atoms named homo spiens be not the causes of hatred and persecution; may those who light candles at noon in order to celebrate you, tolerate those for whom the light of your sun is sufficient; may those who are wearing a white robe to preach your love be not hating those who preach the same thing wearing a black robe. May all Men remember that they are brothers.” (Voltaire, Le Tratie Sur La Tolerance. Translated by Jacqueline Eliot.)

“The central characteristic of that poetry and the cultures that produced it: what I term holistic awareness… it is the Indian’s sense of oneness with the earth and with the creatures on it” (Castro 5)

“An Indian singer or chanter does not merely seek to entertain or to please; he wants to effect change in himself, in nature, or in his fellow human beings” (Castro 11)

“….. others sought in the Indian cultures and poetries a fuller sense of their own humanity, including a cure for the disease of psychological and spiritual alienation” (Castro 16)
“ The Hako is a celebration of the life force and the universal power and harmony inherent in it” (Castro 20)

“ the fundamental intention of most Indian poetry is to make and shape the world through the power and magic of the word” (Castro 34)

“by singing, the soul of the singer is put in harmony with the essential Essence of Things” (Austin xv)

“Any adequate rendering of these songs would have to convey in native figures all this sense of immanent world-overturning and spiritual reestablishment in the Oneness of God and the Brotherhood of man” (Austin xxxiii)

“ What more than this have the schools taught us” (Austin xix)

“What more than this has Voltaire said” (Ayman i)

Sporadic Thoughts on Swann, Castro and Lincoln

“When a language dies, its universe….. dies with it” (Swann xx) how great this saying is. Language is a microcosm of the human macrocosm, when it dies the human identity dies with it. I find this saying as well as our course as a whole support Derrida’s privileging of speech over writing because what is intended in the previous quotation is the oral tradition not the written language which is the focus of our course as well.


While reading Swann’s introduction, I was really surprised for two things that I came across for the first time: the first is the number of languages spoken in Northern America that exceeds six hundred languages; a number I have never expected, the second shocking surprise is the motto of Captain Richard Pratt that is “Kill the Indian and save the man” (Swann xvi) which shows clearly the well organized policy of annihilating another people’s identity, civilization and culture for the sake of nothing but being hostile and oppressive. Language and folklore is part of human identity, and loosing any of each evidently leads to the loss of the other, and Captain Pratt aimed at exterminating both by “killing the Indian”, but as long as people of one’s culture live, their culture, language and folklore will live no matter how much hostility they are exposed to. Ben Gurion, the first Israeli President once said about the Palestinians in 1948 “The old will die and the young will forget,” but this saying has been proven wrong exactly like Pratt’s motto.

I was also astonished by the Intolerance of the early Americans towards other cultures. The other is always portrayed as “ an obstacle to civilized progress” assuming extermination is a civilized act against the uncivilized as they see it. History has a cyclic shape and it repeats itself in different ways, but means and logic of tyranny are still the same no matter how civilized or uncivilized tyranny is. It will always reflect the same stereotypical form of politics that is similar to western movie themes of “ white civilized superiority over Indian uncivilized savages” the same applies to my people’s case but the terminology used is a little bit different.

I find myself emotionally involved with the three introductions I read today; a feeling that I have never had before with papers except when I read the news of my people’s plight in the newspaper. I think we have too much in common with the native Americans: both of us are the “victim of the same oppressive consciousness” (Castro xviii) and “reject the destructive qualities of the western civilization” (ibid)

“ Poetry was a place to plant and nourish an alternative consciousness- one supportive of the human spirit and the spirit of life” (Castro xviii) I see that this is the actual objective of both reading and writing literature as it is supposed to be “ to build a community of like souls” (xix) and to help in understanding the “values once widely held by people” everywhere (ibid). it is not to show prejudice against others and to show them in a “brutish savage image”.

Although I a familiar with the pre-romantic notion of the noble savage (Dryden & Rousseau) as well as the image of Indians and Afro-Americans in the “Leaves of Grass”, I was surprised again to read Emerson’s description of native Americans because I didn’t expect that from a transcendentalist and a nature lover. Melville’s view of the same question gave me a sense of comfort.