HomeFrom Transcribing Orality to Oral Practices of Writing
From Transcribing Orality to Oral Practices of Writing
De la transcription de l’oralité aux pratiques orales de l’écrit
Rural and Popular Cultures in the Digital Era
Cultures rurales et populaires à l’âge du numérique
Published on Tuesday, February 16, 2021
Abstract
The special issue to appear in 2022 aims to include texts that propose an investigation of the complex relationship between the written and the oral in the production of meaning that defines “traditions,” community and group relations, in different contexts of change (post-communism, post-colonialism, migration, the use of new hypermedia, storytelling etc.); texts that approaches the new ways orality is found in contemporary societies; but also texts that, responding to the call of ethnologist M. Mesnil, open avenues for methodological discussions in ethnological research regarding the phenomenon of orality in contemporary societies, dominated by history and written texts.
Announcement
Argument
The Museum of the Romanian Peasant is seeking contributions for its annual journal MARTOR 27/2022, on the topic of “From Transcribing Orality to Oral Practices of Writing. Rural and Popular Cultures in the Digital Era”. MARTOR (www.martor.muzeultaranuluiroman.ro) is a peer-reviewed academic journal, established in 1996, indexed by EBSCO, Index Copernicus, CEEOL, AIO, MLA International Bibliography, with a focus on cultural and visual anthropology, ethnology and museology.
The special issue to appear in 2022 aims to include texts that propose an investigation of the complex relationship between the written and the oral in the production of meaning that defines “traditions,” community and group relations, in different contexts of change (post-communism, post-colonialism, migration, the use of new hypermedia, storytelling etc.); texts that approaches the new ways orality is found in contemporary societies; but also texts that, responding to the call of ethnologist M. Mesnil, open avenues for methodological discussions in ethnological research regarding the phenomenon of orality in contemporary societies, dominated by history and written texts.
The discussion about orality and writing, today, inevitably takes two distinct turns: (1) one related to the orality of peasant cultures; and (2) one that emerges from the recent cultural practices of modernity, practices that combine media and the widespread use of information technology, which leads, inescapably, to the transfer of certain important areas of social life into the virtual realm. Thus, both forms of hypothesizing about the junctures between oral cultures and their written expression determine certain unavoidable methodological perspectives in re-evaluating the (dynamic and ever changing) relationship between orality and writing, in the (re)production of culture we continue to call “traditional,” and in the configuration of various local or group cultures that are mediated virtually. It is a seemingly eclectic discussion but for this very reason it offers a range of possible approaches.
The reciprocity of influence between written literature and orality is signaled as being present since Antiquity (see R. Crosby, J. Goody), the two forms of cultural manifestation constantly interacting throughout history. Moreover, writing is integrated among the mechanisms of transmission and reproduction of local (rural or popular) cultures, such that oral narrations reified in written form often are reintegrated and reinterpreted into the oral dimensions of the life of a community, mainly through storytelling. Over the years, researchers who study the relationship between orality and writing have discussed topics dealing with linguistic aspects (see J. M. Foley), or the dynamic between oral memory and written memory in the process of transmitting local cultures (see J. Goody). These studies have led to the present epistemological theoretical frame, as well as, and just as significantly, to methodological transformations.
Orality is a dynamic phenomenon which, as pointed out by P. Zumthor, in contemporary times no longer plays the same role it did for our ancestors, such that the forms that it takes ( “mediatized” orality, and “digital” orality), are completely different from the “primary,” “mixed,” and “secondary” orality classifications made by Zumthor, sometimes combining all their characteristics, highlighting their innovative nature. Sometimes it can take unexpected forms, which includes the latest channels of transmission. For this reason, new media channels must be taken into consideration today, especially given the fact that in the age of hypermedia, the Internet covers a wide range of audiences.
A special interest is given to the new method that has emerged and which applies orality, and narrative in general, in many sectors of social, economic, political, or educational life, namely the storytelling, which has the strong power to influence the way of thought, to form attitudes, and to convey messages, by suggesting experiences. The research that approach this topic set up a series of questions concerning the links or differences with/or comparing storytelling to anthropology, and if one is in service of the other, or if they are based on common principles, meanings, or values. Other questions concern the role of storytelling in conjunction with anthropology, whether they offer new concepts, frames, or information for museum exhibitions, theatrical shows, educational programs and so on.
Submission guidelines
Please follow the guidelines for authors of the Martor journal: http://martor.muzeultaranuluiroman.ro/for-authors/.
Martor is a journal where authors are encouraged to publish experimental ethnographic research and accompany their text with high standard visual material, thus, all contributors are encouraged to use ample images to accompany their texts.
We invite contributors to send an abstract (300 words)
by Friday 2nd of April 2021.
The selected articles will need to be submitted by Monday 1st of November 2021. Submissions will be in either in English or French.
Proposals, manuscripts, and other editorial correspondence should be sent to the following e-mail: revistamartor@gmail.com.
Guest Editors
- Dr. Anamaria Iuga (National Museum of the Romanian Peasant, Romania)
- Dr. Krassimira Krastanova (Professor, “Paissi Hilendarski” – University of Plovdiv, Bulgaria)
- Dr. Frosa Pejoska-Bouchereau (Professeur des Universités Langue, littérature et civilisation macédoniennes; Director of Doctoral School of INALCO, France)
Bibliography / Bibliographie
Crosby, R. 1936, “Oral Delivery in the Middle Ages.” Speculum, 11 (1): 88-110.
Foley, J. M. 1986.Oral tradition in literature: interpretation in context. Columbia: University of Missouri Press.
Goody, J. 1977. The Domestication of the Savage Mind. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Mesnil, M. 1997. Etnologul, între șarpe și balaur. Bucharest: Paideia.
Zumthor, P. 1983. Introduction à la poésie orale.Paris : Edition du Seuil.
Zumthor, P. 2008. “Oralité.” Intermédialités. Historie et théorie des arts, des lettres et des techniques 12: 169-202.
Subjects
- Ethnology, anthropology (Main category)
- Society > Ethnology, anthropology > Cultural anthropology
Places
- Sos. Kiseleff no. 3
Bucharest, Romania (011341)
Date(s)
- Friday, April 02, 2021
Keywords
- orality, written culture, digital era,
Contact(s)
- Iuga Anamaria
courriel : revistamartor [at] gmail [dot] com
Reference Urls
Information source
- Iuga Anamaria
courriel : revistamartor [at] gmail [dot] com
License
This announcement is licensed under the terms of Creative Commons CC0 1.0 Universal.
To cite this announcement
« From Transcribing Orality to Oral Practices of Writing », Call for papers, Calenda, Published on Tuesday, February 16, 2021, https://doi.org/10.58079/161d
