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Very cool :-). I don't know that much about the natives of Australia and their history, I wonder how many of these oral traditions have been written down. An im

Very cool :-). I don't know that much about the natives of Australia and their history, I wonder how many of these oral traditions have been written down. An immediate google gave me this document, seems interesting at a glance: https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/159354575.pdf https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/159354575.pdf

sandworm101 2y ago
When I lived on the west coast a native friend of mine spoke of how some elders no longer wanted stories to be written down. They have seen how their oral stories get documented, effectively transforming them from a living secret into a fixed text in a dead book. The book then goes on a shelf, fodder for the endless stream of anthropology classes taught ay universities in distant cities. More people read the story in the book than ever come to listen to the story in person. After a few decades of this pattern, young anthologists are now hearing stories and asking questions about why the story today is possibly slightly different than what was written down a decade prior. There is an old stereotype of western Indians believing that cameras could capture one's soul. That is something to think about when we "document" an oral tradition.
- parasti 2y ago
  I come from a background with a strong folk singing tradition, and this reminds me of the two camps of folk singers within it: the purists who want to preserve the "original" tempo, lyrics, melody as it was recorded and documented a century ago and who frown upon deviation from that, and the modernists who adapt, improvise and reinterpret folk songs as they see fit.
- renewiltord 2y ago
  Interesting. I do like the documentation for immortality but with stories there is an obsession with "the actual" or "the original" and many people equate legibility with originality. "Source? The original documented here is blah blah". Sampling a continuous process once and describing it as the process. "The original value of sin(t) is sqrt(3)/2."
- yencabulator 2y ago
  I live near the Navajo Nation, but claim no true understanding of native american culture. Here's what I've heard about their attitudes toward e.g. video recording their rituals: They welcome you, or any respectful individual, to participate and to "live their rituals" with them. The local college even hosts such events, to help the neighboring communities understand each other better. Any elders will likely tell you many stories, once they see you're actually interested and not just in it for a cheap tourist thrill[1]. They discourage trying to record or explain it to people who did not participate. They consider the first-hand experience to be transformative, and that you fundamentally cannot understand them without it. [1]: I understand there are some things they're not supposed to mention much, roughly in the sense of "speak of the Devil" in Christian societies, or naming Bloody Mary three times. Those stories you might only hear on special occasions.

sandworm101 2y ago

When I lived on the west coast a native friend of mine spoke of how some elders no longer wanted stories to be written down. They have seen how their oral stories get documented, effectively transforming them from a living secret into a fixed text in a dead book. The book then goes on a shelf, fodder for the endless stream of anthropology classes taught ay universities in distant cities. More people read the story in the book than ever come to listen to the story in person. After a few decades of this pattern, young anthologists are now hearing stories and asking questions about why the story today is possibly slightly different than what was written down a decade prior. There is an old stereotype of western Indians believing that cameras could capture one's soul. That is something to think about when we "document" an oral tradition.

parasti 2y ago
I come from a background with a strong folk singing tradition, and this reminds me of the two camps of folk singers within it: the purists who want to preserve the "original" tempo, lyrics, melody as it was recorded and documented a century ago and who frown upon deviation from that, and the modernists who adapt, improvise and reinterpret folk songs as they see fit.
renewiltord 2y ago
Interesting. I do like the documentation for immortality but with stories there is an obsession with "the actual" or "the original" and many people equate legibility with originality. "Source? The original documented here is blah blah". Sampling a continuous process once and describing it as the process. "The original value of sin(t) is sqrt(3)/2."
yencabulator 2y ago
I live near the Navajo Nation, but claim no true understanding of native american culture. Here's what I've heard about their attitudes toward e.g. video recording their rituals: They welcome you, or any respectful individual, to participate and to "live their rituals" with them. The local college even hosts such events, to help the neighboring communities understand each other better. Any elders will likely tell you many stories, once they see you're actually interested and not just in it for a cheap tourist thrill[1]. They discourage trying to record or explain it to people who did not participate. They consider the first-hand experience to be transformative, and that you fundamentally cannot understand them without it. [1]: I understand there are some things they're not supposed to mention much, roughly in the sense of "speak of the Devil" in Christian societies, or naming Bloody Mary three times. Those stories you might only hear on special occasions.