Performative Loci of the Imperial Edicts in Nara Japan, 749-70
Ross Bender
The Japanese Empress Kōken/Shōtoku (r. 749-70) governed not merely from a static setting, a throne in the palace at Nara,…
Storytellers of Children’s Literature and their Ideological Construction of the Audience
Bruno Alonso, David Poveda, Marta Morgade
This paper examines the beliefs and informal theories about their audiences held by a group of twelve Spanish storytellers who…
Are We “Misreading” Paul? Oral Phenomena and their Implication for the Exegesis of Paul’s Letters
Sam Tsang
For a substantial period, orality studies were primarily restricted to non-biblical literature. Ever since the application of orality studies to…
The Creation of Basque Oral Poetry by Four American Bertsolaris
Asier Barandiaran
This study analyzes the improvisational styles of four Basque bertsolaris who live and perform in the United States, examining a…
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Paradigms of Social Aesthetics in Themne Oral Performance
Amadu Wurie Khan
Based on a long-term study from 1987 to the present and incorporating storytelling apprenticeship, ethnographic fieldwork, and (largely informal) interviews,…
Orality and Agency: Reading an Irish Autobiography from the Great Blasket Island
John Eastlake
The Islandman (1934) by Tomás Ó Criomhthain is the first autobiography to be published by a member of the Irish-speaking…
Dialogues in Rhyme: The Performative Contexts of Cretan Mantinádes
Venla Sykäri
In Crete, the strong local identity has helped a communicative form of oral poetry, the mantináde, survive to the present…
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The Art of Dueling with Words: Toward a New Understanding of Verbal Duels across the World
Valentina Pagliai
A common view of verbal duels is that they are exchanges of insults between young males, and thus a cathartic…
Presentation Formulas in South Slavic Epic Song
David F. Elmer
South Slavic epic singers make frequent use of direct address to the listener in order to draw attention to important…
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The Southern Sardinian Tradition of the Mutetu Longu: A Functional Analysis
Paulu Zedda
The mutetu longu is a traditional genre of Sardinian oral poetry that is still performed in the southern part of…
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