In American Indian societies, storytelling and speech-making are invested with special significance, crafted to reveal central psychological and social values, tensions, and ambiguities. As Karl Kroeber notes, "It is our scholarship, not Indian storytelling, that is primitive, undeveloped."This book is an essential introduction to the study and appreciation of American Indian oral literatures. The essays, by leading scholars, illuminate the subtle artistry of form and content that gives spoken stories and myths an enduring vitality in native communities yet often makes them perplexing to outsiders. The presentation and analysis of complete oral texts, often with translations, enable the reader...Read more
In American Indian societies, storytelling and speech-making are invested with special significance, crafted to reveal central psychological and social values, tensions, and ambiguities. As Karl Kroeber notes, "It is our scholarship, not Indian storytelling, that is primitive, undeveloped."This book is an essential introduction to the study and appreciation of American Indian oral literatures. The essays, by leading scholars, illuminate the subtle artistry of form and content that gives spoken stories and myths an enduring vitality in native communities yet often makes them perplexing to outsiders. The presentation and analysis of complete oral texts, often with translations, enable the reader to grasp the meaning, purpose, and structure of the tales and to become familiar with the techniques scholars use to translate and interpret them.This expanded edition of the widely praised collection contains a recent analysis of Wintu myth of female sexuality, a revised introduction by Karl Kroeber, a contribution by Dell Hymes, a new translation by Dennis Tedlock, and a new, annotated bibliography.
- ISBN10 0803227043
- ISBN13 9780803227040
- Publish Date 1 February 1981
- Publish Status Out of Print
- Out of Print 30 September 1998
- Publish Country US
- Publisher University of Nebraska Press
- Imprint Bison Books
- Edition Annotated edition
- Format Hardcover
- Pages 162
- Language English