On the concept of "Definitive Text" in Somali poetry

dc.contributor.author	Orwin, Martin	eng
dc.date.issued	2005-10	eng
dc.description	The concept of text is one central to the study of literature, both oral and written. During the course of the Literature and Peformance workshops organized by the AHRB (Arts and Humanities Research Board) Centre for Asian and African Literatures, the word "text" has been used widely and in relation to various traditions from around the world. Here I shall consider the concept of text and specifically what I refer to as "definitive text" in Somali poetry. I contend that the definitive text is central to the conception of maanso poetry in Somali and is manifest in a number of ways. I look at aspects of poetry that are recognized by Somalis and present these as evidence of "the quality of coherence or connectivity that characterizes text" (Hanks 1989:96). The concept of text understood here is, therefore, that of an "individuated product" (ibid.:97). Qualitative criteria both extra- and intratextual will be presented to support this conception.	eng
dc.description	Issue title: Performance Literature II.	eng
dc.format.extent	22 pages	eng
dc.identifier.citation	Oral Tradition, 20/2 (2005): 278-299.	eng
dc.identifier.uri	https://hdl.handle.net/10355/65023
dc.language	English	eng
dc.rights	OpenAccess.	eng
dc.rights.license	This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 License.
dc.title	On the concept of "Definitive Text" in Somali poetry	eng
dc.type	Article	eng