A Musical View of the Universe : Kalapalo Myth and Ritual Performances

__A Musical View of the Universe__ is a study of the relationships between spoken myth and musical ritual in a native Brazilian community, the Carib-speaking Kalpalo of the Upper Xingu Basin. The book focuses on the meanings created and expressed through performance of artistic processes in which sound symbols provide a unifying interpretive matrix. Through sound symbols, Kalpalo ideas about types of beings, their relationships, and activities of mind are conceived, represented, and rendered apparent. The book includes the first collection of South American Indian narratives translated directly from the original language from taped performances. Ellen B. Basso's translations take into account the interaction among participants in the storytelling situation and the qualities of narrative performance that result.

A Musical View of the Universe is a study of the relationships between spoken myth and musical ritual in a native Brazilian community, the Carib-speaking Kalpalo of the Upper Xingu Basin. The book focuses on the meanings created and expressed through performance of artistic processes in which sound symbols provide a unifying interpretive matrix. Through sound symbols, Kalpalo ideas about types of beings, their relationships, and activities of mind are conceived, represented, and rendered apparent.

The book includes the first collection of South American Indian narratives translated directly from the original language from taped performances. Ellen B. Basso's translations take into account the interaction among participants in the storytelling situation and the qualities of narrative performance that result.

Contents Illustrations Tables Preface Acknowledgments Guide to Pronouncing Kalapalo Words Chapter 1. Introduction: Meaning Constructed Through Performance Chapter 2. Narrative Performances and Discourse Structures Chapter 3. Myth as an Explanatory Mode Chapter 4. Sound as Symbol: Orders of Animacy Chapter 5. The Government of Grief Chapter 6. Fantasies of Erotic Aggression Chapter 7. Saturated with Music, Submerged in Sense Appendix 1: Transcribing and Translating Appendix 2: Kwambi Songs (as sung by Kambe) Appendix 3: Songs Called “Birding” (itolotepe) (as sung by Kudyu, Ugaki, Tsarjaku) Notes Bibliography Index Index of Myths