Oral Traditions and the Verbal Arts by Ruth Finnegan (9780415048415)

Description - Oral Traditions and the Verbal Arts by Ruth Finnegan

The study of oral traditions and verbal arts leads into an area of human culture to which anthropologists are increasingly turning their attention, whether for its own sake or as part of research on other topics, linking up with developing work on such topics as performance, text memory, the emotions, the ethnography of speaking, and the anthropology of artistic action more generally. Now it is timely to have a guidance to the possibilities and problems of researching this area and to the developments in related disciplines which bear on this. Oral Traditions and the Verbal Arts provides up-to-date guidance on how to approach the study of oral form and their performances, treating both the practicalities of fieldwork and the methods by which oral texts and performances can be observed, collected or analysed. It also relates to those current controversies about the nature of performance and of 'text'.
Designed as a practical and systematic introduction to the processes and problems of researching in this area, this is an invaluable guide for students and lecturers of anthropology and cultural studies and also for general readers who are interested in enjoying oral literature for its own sake.

Buy Oral Traditions and the Verbal Arts by Ruth Finnegan from Australia's Online Independent Bookstore, BooksDirect.