Talking on the page : editing aboriginal oral texts : papers given at the thirty-second annual Conference on Editorial Problems, University of Toronto, 14-16 November 1996

The worlds of readers and writers on the one hand and listeners and speakers on the other differ in many ways. What happens when the stories, beliefs, or histories of North American Native people, many traditionally communicated orally, are transferred to paper or other media? Why do tellers, teachers, editors, filmmakers, and translators undertake this work? What do the words mean for different audiences? How can they be most effectively and responsibly presented and interpreted? This collection of essays confronts these and other issues that arise in attempting to record oral cultures for a visual society. The book contains an introduction by the editors, and papers by Nora Marks Dauenhauer and Richard Dauenhauer, Kimberly M. Blaeser, J. Edward Chamberlain, Victor Masayesva Jr., and Julie Cruikshank. The Paradox Of Talking On The Page : Some Aspects Of The Tlingit And Haida Experience / Nora Marks Dauenhauer And Richard Dauenhauer -- How Do We Learn Language? What Do We Learn? / Basil Johnston -- Writing Voices Speaking : Native Authors And An Oral Aesthetic / Kimberly M. Blaeser -- Doing Things With Words : Putting Performance On The Page / J. Edward Chamberlin -- It Shall Not End Anywhere : Transforming Oral Traditions / Victor Masayesva Jr. -- The Social Life Of Texts : Editing On The Page And In Performance / Julie Cruikshank. Edited By Laura J. Murray And Keren Rice. Includes Bibliographical References. Essays examine the problems inherent in attempting to record oral cultures for a visual society. What happens when the oral stories, beliefs, or histories of North American Native peoples are transferred to paper or other media? ..