Oral tradition, volume 05, number 2-3 (May 1990) - South Pacific Oral Traditions

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https://hdl.handle.net/10355/63718

Table of Contents

  • Cover
  • Front Matter
  • Editor's Column
  • About the Authors (Back Matter)
  • Articles
    • Introduction: or, Why the Comparativist Should Take Account of the South Pacific
      by Ruth Finnegan
    • "My Summit Where I Sit": Form and Content in Maori Women's Love Songs
      by Margaret Orbell
    • Wry Comment from the Outback: Songs of Protest from the Niva Islands, Tonga
      by Wendy Pond
    • Sex and Slander in Tikopia Song: Public Antagonism and Private Intrigue
      by Raymond Firth
    • Wept Thoughts: The Voicing of Kaluli Memories
      by Steven Feld
    • Profile of a Composer: Ihaia Puka, a Pulotu of the Tokelau Islands
      by Ineleo Tuia, Allen Thomas
    • Fiction, Fact, and Imagination: A Tokelau Narrative
      by Judith Huntsman
    • "That Isn't Really a Pig": Spirit Traditions in the Southern Cook Islands
      by Christian Clerk
    • "Head" and "Tail": The Shaping of Oral Traditions among the Binandere in Papua New Guinea
      by John D. Waiko
    • Every Picture Tells a Story: Visual Alternatives to Oral Tradition in Ponam Society
      by James Carrier, Achsah Carrier
    • Winged Tangi'ia: A Mangaian Dramatic Performance
      by Teaea Parima, Marivee McMath

[Collection created May 30, 2018]

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    Fiction, Fact, and Imagination: A Tokelau Narrative
    (1990-05) Huntsman, Judith
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    "My Summit Where I Sit": Form and Content in Maori Women's Love Songs
    (1990-05) Orbell, Margaret
    It is still widely assumed, despite the writings of Ruth Finnegan (esp. 1977:73-87) and others, that the composition of oral poetry necessarily involves improvisation. But most traditional Maori songs, for example, were prior composed, and their texts were fixed, in that a song might be memorized and sung in the same form over a period of many years (though on other occasions the words would be adapted to fi t new circumstances, and the process of oral transmission might also bring about some changes).
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    Winged Tangi'ia: A Mangaian Dramatic Performance
    (1990-05) McMath, Marivee; Parima, Teaea
    With the arrival of Europeans rapid and far-reaching social change occurred in Polynesia, and a number of observers predicted that the oral tradition of the area in which they were living was about to disappear. Yet over much, if not all, of Polynesia an oral tradition continues to flourish, much of it a synthesis of old and new elements. The purpose of this article is to examine something of this creative and ongoing process as it can be viewed in the tradition of dance-drama on the island of Mangaia. An example of a dramatic performance recorded in 1973 is chosen, and the recorded text and a translation are given. The performance is placed in its immediate social context, and attention is paid to the relationship between the performers and their audience. At the same time it is shown that the play also requires a careful consideration of Mangaian history and culture. Because the Mangaian dance-drama is a highly flexible art form that readily combines new and old elements, a sophisticated understanding requires the adoption of a number of different approaches.
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