Oral Literature
Project Outline: "These are informal essays in which you respond to the material from texts, class discussions, and other ideas that have come your way during the course." Dr. Lea Masiello
Personal reflections on the following:
Leslie Marmon Silko's Storyteller
"White enthologists have reported that the oral tradition has died out but I grew up at Laguna listening, and I hear the ancient stories, I hear them very clearly in the stories we are telling now. Most important, I feel the power which the stories still have to bring us together."--Silko
N. Scott Momaday's The Way to Rainy Mountain
"My grandmother had a reverence for the sun, a holy regard that now is gone out of mankind. There was a wariness in her, and an ancient awe. She was a Christian in her later years, but she had come a long way about, and she never forgot her birthright." (from Introduction to The Way to Rainy Mountain)
Oral History: Building Family by Tradition
It can be argued that one of the more touching stories in Leslie Marmon Silko's Storyteller is Lullaby. It describes the separation of a mother from her children; but more than this, it portrays the abandonment of oral history. Many things can interrupt the life of a story. It is realistic to assume that there are people who can and often do interfere with the lives and happiness of other�s; this demonstrates great disrespect and ignorance, characteristics of an egocentric perspective. These sometimes unwitting characters interrupt an otherwise continuous saga by literally dismembering its people from their nature, their history, their future and their past. Ayah loses her children to people like this; in the name of progress, assimilation, welfare, and indoctrination, they feel that they are complying with the best interests of everyone involved.
Adding insult to injury to the Ayah�s situation, her husband does not seem to show sorrow for or even recognize the loss. Like so many lost people (lacking, perhaps, their own ancestry), he is anxious to build a solid, prosperous, respectable career when, in fact, he is destroying his real future by allowing his children to be raised by strangers. The future of a family is built through children, tradition, and the presence of value-reflecting family stories passed on generation after generation.
There is a passage in Lullaby that easily portrays a romantic picture for �storytelling� in its complete form. Ayah, the mother, reflects on her life and memories; it is then that Silko tells us the following; �Out of the wind she felt warmer, and she could watch the wide fluffy snow fill her tracks, steadily, until the direction she had come from was gone.� This image allows one to envision a person �out of the wind� or in a safe, comfortable place away from the pain of a recent loss. Contrariwise, the delicate snow might symbolize the future and oncoming hardships or the �winds of life� for young people of generations yet to come. These children are pure and delicate, blown in the gales of their own experiences. Gently sinking, they land near and in our footsteps steadily; time is relentless. They follow an irreversible track and as they do, they cover the pre-existing tracks. The paths and stories of our ancestors fade; even the best ones are eventually forgotten but the evidence of their existence is never erased.
In the literal as well as the figurative sense, the seed exists even in the absence of family. But to Ayah, this does not provide any consolation. Even though her children visited in later years, she believes that they never really returned, just as Jimmie failed to come home. She lets us know that by choosing not to acknowledge their final departure. It is as if they are not her children without the stories of her past.
In N. Scott Momaday�s book, The Way to Rainy Mountain, the author shares his own family�s stories. This book is an account of his memories as well as a more in-depth research of his ancestors. The account is very honest, revealing an aspect of families that is present but not always revealed--secrets. Though a little less romantic than Lullaby, the detailed scope exposes another undeniable angle of family stories.
These revelations follow families and traditions and uncover traits that are not always universal. As an observer, one might find material or subjects with which they do not agree. Yet Momaday�s stories are full of creative images of everyday life. Too often in present day we find clinical, cold explanations for events, thereby depriving ourselves of the chance to use our individual imagination. Momaday almost suggests, in the noticeable absence of its representation, that our culture insinuates the existence of a �right answer� to every thing in human, physical, and ethereal nature. Opposed to this scientific attitude, his stories relay and display the creative beliefs of his people not only to their children, but also to anyone might disagree with their perspective.
The Way to Rainy Mountainappeals to the reader through honesty. When characters misbehave, they are shown as disobedient. Twin boys who cause their grandmother pain are plainly shown as disrespectful, and the weight of this seems to be heavier in light reverance for oral tradition. Though they become heroes later in life, they most likely personify the actions of the audience, who also might have engaged in acts of disrespect in their younger years. Moreover, Momaday describes a wife who mistreats her husband and is punished. These descriptions are not catered to fit a viewer�s potential expectations of typical American Indian stories.
These books demonstrate a variety of tales that encourage a reader to reflect upon their own oral history and family traditions, as well as other aspects of life. Because oral literature is based on human experiences and has been shaped and forgotten, lived and relived since the beginning of time, it is inconceivable to imagine a complete account of even one person�s entire history. Yet even a tiny fraction of this picture holds tremendous personal importance and great significance to anyone who understands or benefits from its lessons.
Personal reflections on the following:
Eric Lassiter's The Power of Kiowa Song
"Lassiter details his evolution as he goes from powwows sponsored by hobbyists to contact with Kiowa Indians in Southwestern Oklahoma, where he travels the powwow circuit and sometimes performs as a head singer. In the book's second half, Lassiter focuses on the dance tradition known as the Gourd Dance and the Kiowa song associated with it. The power of the song, referred to in the title, comes from the way the members of the community hear and respond to it. The book works both as a personal and anthropological journey."
Alan Dundes Folklore Matters
Community: Defining Our Place in Society
Place is an important aspect of oral tradition. Both Alan Dundes and Eric Lassiter describe the �place� of certain communities in today�s society. In Folklore Matters, Dundes uses a popular �pecking chicken� toy to analyze characteristics of the communities that make them. He notices and explains that cultures differ in their interpretation of this toy. The toy seems to resemble community values such as diversity and conformity. For instance, the Pecking Chickens from India are shown as colorful, elaborate, and uniquely detailed in contrast to the Russian Pecking Chickens, which are uniform in color and detail. Since most people interpret Russian culture as striving to be uniform, it makes sense that Russian parents would use this toy to show their children the importance of this concept. On the other hand, Indian tradition seems to incorporate many different �flavors,� so to speak. Using a variety of foods, fabrics, and artwork, they seem to have very expressive culture with a wide range of designs and symbols to represent their beliefs. The idea of being unique is shown then to their children through their toys.
However, toys in general can create common patterns that all communities share. Toys teach analytical thinking. They encourage communication, which is also important in oral history. Toys follow guidelines that are passed down, generation to generation, which is again similar to oral history. Like stories, toys in all cultures encourage playful thinking and imagination. So, toys can represent common threads that all communities share. They identify with each other by incorporating patterns in toys and oral history. Yet these stories and actual places that define specific communities are very different.
For instance, in The Power of Kiowa Song, Lassiter examines the many aspects of a Kiowa community. As he becomes a closer friend with Billy Evans Horse, Billy Gene, Shirley, and Dorita, he soon notices differences between a �hobbyist� interpretation of Kiowa community and the actual modern day community. Even though non-Indian hobbyists claim they have become Indian through participation, their participation is often based on exotic, mysterious, antique imagery of �the Indian.� Hobbyists re-create Indian powwows very seriously and perform difficult Indian activities. In reality, Kiowa powwows are fun, relaxed, and sincere. They also strongly believe in what they do and travel anywhere to share it. Some hobbyists are, in some ways, blinded by their fascination with Indians so that they cannot see the �feelings and complexities of individuals like Billy Gene.� Hobbyists �collect� the Indian community and, by making it their hobby, they mentally conform it to only represent what interests them.
On the other hand, Lassiter learns to see the actual community, attaining �a whole new understanding of what it is like to be Indian in America� (31). He sees, in their everyday lives, the struggle of trying to compete for a job and then being turned down for lack of membership to a certain tribe. He sees beautiful Indian jewelry, beadwork, and art bought at low prices and then sold for much more. Billy Gene and Shirley and their willingness to share and teach touch him. Billy Evans shows this resolve to teach at a powwow in Georgia. Even though he is insulted by the performances, he politely explains that as Indian people, he and his family deserve a certain amount of respect. In order to represent qualities of Native Americans, people should learn the proper ways to do so. Communities, like anything else, change over time. By failing to acknowledging these changes, many people then fail to realize the struggle that this community has had to overcome. The Indian community is not an unchanging, purely historical one.
Although people who call themselves Indian know that much of their history has been lost, Billy Gene and Shirley believe that they live in two worlds, �one Indian and one white� (72). Indian people, their values, and their traditions still designate an �Indian world.� Theirs is a unique community that differs from other communities. They do not want to be put in the �melting pot� of America. Furthermore, they are not in a �melting pot� of Native Americans. The differences between tribes are striking. For instance, some Indian languages thrive, and some are on the verge of extinction. Native American people want to preserve traditions and identities, but they also want to be recognized as separate from the stereotype formed in the past.
Yet new stereotypes trouble and harm this struggling community. They are still the victims of prejudice and violence. They add stories of these things to their collection as a warning. Police officers warn them outright that they �never want to see (their) faces again.� In �rough� neighborhoods where many are unemployed, police �secure� the neighborhoods by using clubs even though they have �the dangerous man� pinned to the ground. Despite these hardships, outside perceptions help define a community because there is a greater need to relate in order to protect each other.
So, there are many ways to portray or �place� a community because a community can be defined on many levels. It can be shown from a hobbyist point of view or a judgmental point of view. Even though objects like toys characterize certain aspects of a community, the only way to completely understand the people of that community is to understand how they view their place in the past, in their actual neighborhoods, and in modern society. Communities are very unique. They each re-enforce identity and are best described by stories and characteristics that the community itself describes.
Personal reflections on the following:
Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Birthmark
"In the latter part of the last century, there lived a man of science�an eminent proficient in every branch of natural philosophy�who, not long before our story opens, had made experience of a spiritual affinity, more attractive than any chemical one. He had left his laboratory to the care of an assistant, cleared his fine countenance from the furnace-smoke, washed the stain of acids from his fingers, and persuaded a beautiful woman to become his wife..."--Hawthorne
Foundations: In the Community and of the Community
Foundations of oral literature are numerous. But there are many ways to look at the idea of 'foundation'. When ethnic groups seek residence in a different country, they change their 'foundation' in many ways, including in many cases environment, tradition, community, and lifestyle. Another groundwork of oral tradition is place. For instance, the city, town or even the type of houses that a community inhabits. As I talk about foundation though, I believe it to mean keystone of what inspires people to act. As in children and toys, the behavior and mannerisms they build in youth that contribute to the overall community to which they later contribute. Then later, as adults, these foundations are the characters' motivation to behave the way they do.
For the last couple of weeks, we have been expanding the idea of 'story telling' to include many contributing ideas such as toys, folklore, and song. One of the similarities that is obvious to me is a common idea of foundation. Starting with childhood and traditional toys, such as pecking chickens, it was evident that cultures differ in their interpretation of this toy. Yet, all of the chickens resembled the culture they came from in some way. For instance, the Pecking Chickens from India are shown as colorful, elaborate, and uniquely detailed in contrast to the Russian Pecking Chickens, which are uniform in color and detail. Since most people interpret Russian culture as striving to be uniform, it makes sense that Russian parents would use this toy to show their children the importance of this concept. On the other hand, Indian tradition seems to incorporate many different 'flavors' so to speak. I have never been there but have seen the variety of foods, fabrics, and artwork in books or in the news. I think this is interesting because it shows 'foundations' that toys build in children. Of course, the toys are also a result of the communities pre-existing way of life; but even then, toys serve to reinforce the ways set by the elders, like stories and songs do.
Songs, as we said in class, also create community and define the values of a community. By participating in song, personal identity is shared, through voice, with a group of people. Songs relate and connect us to people we understand. Oral behaviors in song help build a foundation to a person's place in the world. Like toys, songs become familiar to us in childhood. Many times there are songs that will remind people of their childhood and of the people who sang to them or with them. These same songs get passed down as a sort of heritage from generation to generation. They form a foundation of ancestry and help to define our community, our kin, and even our selves.
"The Building of Skadar" shows another good example of the use of foundation in oral literature. This story shows literal foundation as well as the theoretical or psychological foundation of toys and songs. It also shows a difference in the root or source of action that men and women take throughout a lot of famous or historical tales. In the various forms of this ballad (or legend), a group of men are trying to build a castle (bridge, or monastery) that has no strength or dependability without the sacrifice of one of their wives. The men obviously with strong intentions of completing this task could e portrayed as needing this success as the foundation on which they base their lives. It is their goal; without it, they have nothing to support their pride. Then, the new husband depends on his wife to aid him in this endeavor. Because she has such devotion for her husband that "neither lightning nor thunderstorms can prevent the faithful, devoted wife from bringing her husband his meal," it is her foundation of love that gives birth to his pride (Dundes 152). "The foundation of a city is the mother of a city" (Dundes 159). Therefore, the building is secure and she is able to serve husband and child, not to mention the community, with the milk and sacrifices of her love.
Another story that illustrates these foundations is "The Birthmark" by Nathaniel Hawthorne. A scientist and" eminent proficient in every branch of natural philosophy," called Aylmer wed a young beautiful woman, Georgiana (Hawthorne 300). Shortly thereafter, he became fixated on the mark upon her cheek, a "singular mark, deeply interwoven, as it were, with the texture and substance of her face"(Hawthorne 301). To Georgiana, "it had so often been called a charm that (she) was simple enough to imagine it might be so"(Hawthorne 301) But Aylmer found this one defect grow more and more intolerable with every moment of their united lives. He selected it as the symbol of his wife's liability to sin, sorrow, decay or die. Unable to forget the topic, he suggests removing the birthmark, "convinced of the perfect practicability of its removal"(Hawthorne 304) However, the "stain goes as deep as life itself" and Georgiana awakes from the healing concoction to tell her husband that she is dying (Hawthorne 305). In his efforts to produce a perfect being in the natural world, Aylmer "had rejected the best the earth could offer"(Hawthorne 317).
Like "The Building of Skadar," the husband strives for success and pride through profession. Aylmer not only wants to 'build a castle,' or show the world of the perfection he could attain, but he also attempts to "weave his mortal life of the selfsame texture with the celestial"(Hawthorne 317). His wife, again the sacrificed, joyfully stakes all upon his word. Her trusts and love as a wife are again the foundation of a husband's success, however ironic, painful, and clinical it turned out to be.
Both stories convey a correlation between marriage and death. Both are passed down to define the communities in which we live. These stories, or ones like them, have had an impact on the community in which we live. Undoubtedly and especially in the age of women's liberation, woman who analyzed stories like these and noticed their similarities not only felt the need to change their lifestyles, but also to create a community wherein it is important to recognize a stronger role for women. One way they would do so would be to find and emphasis the stories in oral literature that build a more productive role for women that does not result in selfless death.
These stories also illustrate lessons that shape the values of our community. For instance, "The Birthmark" is an obvious plea to the reader to beware of a fixation on beauty or perfection. Hawthorne originally and eloquently gives meaning to the phrase; "I'm only human."
One way to 'see' the foundation of society is to include traditional toys, songs, and stories. If oral tradition were compared to a circus, the stories might be interpreted as the brightly covered tarp that protects everyone underneath. The pillars of the canvas, which is hopefully durable, would be love, success, and toys, supporting and reinforcing the women, men, and children underneath, laughing and sharing.
Personal reflections on the following:
Personal reflections on the following:
