A World of Others Words: Cross–Cultural Perspectives on Intertextuality

Shortlisted for Katharine Briggs Folklore Award 2005. Drawing on a broad range of oral performances and literary records from Iceland, Ireland, Scotland, North America, Ghana, and Fiji, linguistic anthropologist and folklorist Richard Bauman presents a series of ethnographic case studies that offer an innovative and illuminating look at intertextuality as communicative practice. Bauman uses his introduction to lay a framework for the analysis of genre, performance, and intertextuality as discursive accomplishments. He goes on to examine the ways that performers blend genres and then explores how they manage intertextual links or gaps by aligning texts in discursive practice. Finally, Bauman draws together these threads and turns his insights to a critical consideration of ethnographic practice itself, bringing into reflexive awareness the ways that ethnography positions us in a world of others’ words.

Acknowledgments. Note on Transcription. 1.Introduction: Genre, Performance, and the Production of Intertextuality. 2. "And The Verse Is Thus": Icelandic Stories About Magical Poems. 3. "I′ll Give You Three Guesses": Scots Riddle–Tales And The Dynamics Of Genre. 4. "What Shall We Give You?": Calibrations Of Genre In A Mexican Market. 5. "Bell, You Get The Spotted Pup": First Person Narratives Of A Texas Storyteller. 6. "That I Can’t Tell You": Negotiating Performance With A Nova Scotia Fisherman. 7. "Go, My Reciter, Recite My Words": Mediation, Tradition, Authority. Epilogue. References. Index

Richard Bauman is Distinguished Professor of Folklore and Ethnomusicology, Communication and Culture, and Anthropology, and Director of the Folklore Institute at Indiana University, Bloomington. His books include Verbal Art as Performance (1977), Let Your Words Be Few (1983), Story, Performance, and Event (1986), and Voices of Modernity (with Charles L. Briggs, 2003).

“Richard Bauman, one of the world’s foremost scholars of folkloric texts and performances, is here at the peak of his career. From street cries in a Mexican market to Icelandic folktales, from practical jokes in rural Texas to the yarns of Nova Scotia fishermen, this book takes us on a behind–the–scenes tour of the words through which people make meaning out of life.” Greg Urban, University of Pennsylvania “In a set of empirically rich, evocative essays, Bauman continues his masterly explorations at the border of linguistic anthropology, literary theory, and the study of oral poetics. Together, these chapters provide an exemplary theoretical perspective on genre and the cultural implications of performance.” Susan Gal, University of Chicago “Richard Bauman has given us a wonderful book, which draws on his wide–ranging experience in many places and cultures, on his expertise in both oral discourse and written texts, and on his erudite knowledge in many academic disciplines–––linguistic anthropology, folklore, and literary criticism.” Joel Sherzer, University of Texas, Austin "A fresh take on folklore studies and a valuable addition to the corpus of writing on linguistic anthropology. The writer balances attention to detail with the ability to present arguments elegantly and clearly." Social Anthropology