“I was foolish someone else was wise”

"I was foolish someone else was wise"

(Praises of the Bantu Kings Alcheringa 9).

I wrote a rather lengthy response on Symposium and Technicians earlier in the semester, but I still agree with many of the concepts in this book. The term "primitive" is limiting and needs to be re-defined. Cliches are to be abandoned. In addition, the key to making sense of ancient or experimental material is not to try and capture the true form (meaning the authentic rendering) but to grasp the essence. I think it is clear that the original can never be accurately translated. Translating oral poetry, songs, stories, etc can never be truly perfect. Environmental sounds, sights, sighs and even cultural differences are hard, if not impossible, to replicate.

One can still be a technician and try to encapsulate the original in some form if some ideas are still kept central to the transcription. It is important to recognize the cultural idiosyncrasies involving the texts one transcribes. In Tedlock’s case, he learned some Native American language. This made him, perhaps, more sensitive to the culture as a whole. It took down some of the cultural barriers for him.

Another idea to keep in mind is that sacred is not primitive. "Sacred" carries multiple meanings and any "technician" must keep that notion in mind. Rothenberg says in the Alcheringa, "there is another side to discourse" (64). Even Vicuna and Sabina and even Antin all have elements of the "sacred" in their performances. (Remember Eshleman?)
As Rothenberg states in the Alcheringa, by examining all forms and systems of poetry one can find new ways to present and transcribe it (5). This is an ongoing process—one as Rothenberg says, without conclusion.

Sources for my project

I would like to list my working bib for my project.

"United or dominated" Germa'n Carrasco and Cecilia Pavon, in Página12, 15 of
December of 2003.

Higgins, Dick. Pattern Poetry. New York: S U of New York P, 1987.

Lippard Lucy. "Spinning the Common Thread"

Méndez-Ramírez Hugo. "Cryptic Weaving"

Ong, Walter. Orality and Literacy. London: Routledge, 1988.

Polkinhorn, Harry. "Sound image in Experimental Poetry." Visible Language 2001.

Silko, Leslie Marmon. Yellow Woman and a Beauty of the Spirit. NewYork: Touchstone,
1996.
~"As a Child I Loved to Draw and Cut Paper"
~"On Photography"
~"The Indian with the Camera"

The Precarious: The Art and Life of Cecilia Vicuna.

Quipoem

World of Poetry http://www.worldofpoetry.com/cv_t2.htm

"Cecilia Vicuña: The poet who conquered New York " Maureen Lennon Zaninovic,
Mercury, Tuesday 16 of November of 2004.

Chasing the Gunniwolf-Ethnopoetic Text in a New Way

Kelley Gordon
Dr. Sherwood 766
Experiment 3

Chasing the Gunniwolf

As a children’s librarian, I was trained in the "art" of storytelling. Getting toddlers, preschoolers or kindergartners totally focused on a book’s telling is our goal. The Gunniwolf or Gunniwulf is my all time favorite folk tale to share with kids. This text is easily manipulated to enrapture the hardest to please customer. Wilhelmina Harper published the original text in the 1900s; she had adapted it from an old folktale.
This ethnopoetic folktale has been associated with Native American, Indian, German and even African folklore. Thus, it is likely that this was an oral tale taken from primarily oral cultures. This text-based script is a representation of how I tell the tale orally. How would Hymes feel about that?
I am also including a symbol sheet (for Dr. Sherwood-I could not get it to reproduce on the blog) that I would use to give me clues to tell the story without script or text.
Note: This book is better suited for a kindergartner. The nature of repetition, word patterns and plot predictability are all good ways to get the children interested n the text. According to Sue McCleaf Nespeca (story time expert), children will be acquiring the fundamentals of reading by picking texts with these basic elements.

The Gunniwulf

Once upon a time there was a leettle girl who lived with her mother waaay out at the veery edge of the jungle. (Exaggeration)
Now every day, that little girl's mother would say to her,
(I put my hands on my hips and point and shake my finger at the children)
"Little Girl, don't you go near that jungle by yourself, cause if you do, the Gunniwolf's. . . gonna. . . get . . . you!" (This last part is said with a scary intonation)
And every day, that little girl said, (I put my head down shyly)
"Yes, Mother, I know. I won't EVER go near the jungle." (I shake my head "no")
And she never did. (I shake my head very deliberately)
And one day, that little girl's mother said, (I put my hands on my hips)
"Little Girl, I have to go away"
"Remember: don't you go NEAR that jungle, cause if you do… the Gunniwolf's Gonna Get You!" (This I repeat very slowly while shaking my finger)
And that little girl said, "Yes, Mother, I know, I won't go near the jungle!" (I put my head down shyly)
As soon as her mother was gone, the little girl
saw some Beeautiful white flowers, growing right at the verrry (forced voice) edge of the jungle. (I usually have some kind of prop)
"Oooh!" she said. "Those white flowers would make a beautiful bouquet for my mother!"
So she went over and she picked ‘em. (Was she supposed to do that? Nooooo.)
And as she picked them, she sang a little song:
Kum-ki, kum-kwa
Kum-ki, kum-kwa
The-een, she saw some lovvvely Pink flowers, growing just inside (forced voice) the jungle.
"Oooh!" she said. "Those pink flowers would make a lovely bouquet for my momma!" So she went in and she picked ‘em. (Uh-oh! Was she supposed to do that? Noooo.)
(I make a motion of picking and gathering)
Kum-ki, kum-kwa
Kum-ki, kum-kwa
The-en, she saw some gorgeous orange flowers, growing right in the middle (forced voice) of the jungle.
"Oooh! Those orange flowers would make a gorgeous bouquet for my mother!" So she went in and she picked ‘em. (Uh-oh! Was she supposed to do that? Noooo.)
Kum-ki, kum-kwa
Kum-ki, kum-kwa
Just then… right in front of her…gasp… she saw THE GUNNIWOLF! (I say his name loudly and give a growly roar)
"Little girl! Why for you move?" (My voice is gravely, growly)
"I no move!" (I’m scared)
"Then sing that guten sweeten song again!" (growly)
So the little girl sang:
Kum-ki, kum-kwa
Kum-ki, kum-kwa
And the Gunniwolf fell fast asleep! (I yawn and stretch)
Away little girl ran: tippy-toe, tippy-toe, tippy-toe, tippy-toe (Say quickly to mimic running quickly)
Away from that ol’ Gunniwolf.
But. . (gasp).. the Gunniwolf Woke Up! (Oh-No!)
Hunker--cha!
Hunker--cha! > These are the sounds of Gunniwulf chasing her
Hunker--cha!
"Little girl! Why you move?" (growly)
"I no move!" (A little less scared)
"Then sing your guten sweeten song again!"
So the little girl sang:
Kum-ki, kum-kwa
Kum-ki, kum-kwa
And the Gunniwolf fell fast asleep. (Yawn)
Away ran the little girl
tippy-toe, tippy-toe, tippy-toe... tippy-toe, tippy-toe, tippy-toe (I say it quickly to mimic running quickly)
Away from that ol’ Gunniwolf.
Again the Gunniwolf woke up!
Hunker--cha!
Hunker--cha!
Hunker--cha!
Tippy toe tippy toe tippy toe
HUNKer--cha HUNKer--cha!
And her caught her
"Little girl! Why for you move?" (growly)
"I no move!" (not scared at all)
"Then sing your guten, sweeten song again!"
So the little girl sang:
Kum-ki, kum-kwa
Kum-ki, kum-kwa
The Gunniwolf nodded, nodded and finally fell faaast asleep.
So away the little girl ran tippy-toe, tippy-toe, tippy-toe...tippy-toe, tippy-toe, tippy-toe…tippy-toe, tippy-toe, tippy-toe... (very quickly) as fast as she could until she got all the way back to her house
Until this very day, that little girl has never, ever gone back into that jungle!
And that's that.

Juniper Fuse and The Tablets: The Wick that Leads to Imagination
"All concepts are misconceptions" (139).

The Tablets were quite confusing to me -at first. This book is certainly beyond a literal reading. I found that I didn’t really read the footnotes; for me, they took away from the experience. I am nervously thinking that some of it seemed like the Wasteland (sorry Dr. Sherwood). This book seems like performance art on a page. Like Eshleman, Schwerner gives a ballad on history—the Tigris and the Euphrates, etc. I almost envisioned these tablets being discovered among other artifacts in archaeological digs. The pictographs reminded me of the Egyptian hieroglyphics. I don’t believe that the words are necessarily the point of focus. Rather, Schwerner wanted to implant ideas. I can’t help but think of the Alcheringa when Rothenberg states, "Poetics. Poetry, the process of" (61). This seems to apply to Schwerner. Ethnopoetics, the Alcheringa reiterates, enlarges our understanding of what a poem is (50).

"The Desire to Become Conscious"

Juniper Fuse is astounding. I quickly realized this is representation of thought—processes and inspiration on a page. They represent, to me, someone in the act of creating (as opposed to having a perfect piece printed on a perfect page). This is ironic as Eshleman is reflecting upon the images in the cave—he is "sketching" cave art for a general audience to see. He mentions that images are inseparable from the words (xv). He represents this imagery in way that lets his reader into his imagination.
Like The Tablets, Eshleman’s book is also reminiscent of an archaeological expedition. He is tracing origins: origins of myth, religion, and sex. He seems to be trying to tie everything together—birth, death, and a sort of transcendence. He connects the 21st century reader to the ancient past, putting us almost on the same level. I also saw this book as a ballad devoted to history and myth.
He pushes the envelope of convention almost making the reader uncomfortable at times (i.e. the episode with his psychiatrist). The image of the fuse, or wick, leads me to think of Plato’s Allegory of the Cave, and people being led to the light of being and becoming. I was pleased when I read that Eshleman mentions this very thing later in the book. He even seems to make connection to Darwin and "survival of the fittest." He brings, as he says, the poet out of the cave and into the light. The cave, to him, is birth, or, in this case, rebirth.

For the Record

For the Record: Scholarly practices

Performance. Narrative. Myth. Education. Sound poetry. These themes come together in this week’s reading dealing with performance. A poet-talker, Antin assigns the term, "myth" a little used definition: "to talk." He seems to advocate listening beyond the literal. Let someone talk and preserve his or her myth; don’t assign your own idea of myth, but allow it to stay original—unlike the men in suits to whom Antin refers. Education does not make someone a better decoder-listening does. Antin’s own piece, lacking punctuation and conventional grammatical construction, makes a statement of its own. He refuses to be put into a box and labeled "a poet". Rather, he is what he is. Assigning traditional grammar to his piece would take away from his persona and would misrepresent his point. As Davidson points out, Antin’s performances are tantamount to who he is. Hymes, too, addresses the issue of interpretability.

Hymes sees performance as central to understanding folklore. He looked at two storytellers and de-codes their accounts. He finds them to contain many subtle differences which somewhat change the meanings of the two coyote stories. He points out that translators may miss subtleties like these as they concentrate on what only make sense to them. Scholars can ignore things. He also pints out problems in taking dictation as the dictator many be sensitive to the translator’s limited knowledge of the culture. Hymes advocates a better system of transcription—a better way to rate variation in performances. Traditional systems are no longer good enough. To Hymes, understanding the nature of a performance is central to transcribing it. He emphasizes pushing beyond educational knowledge to really understand the nature of performance. Like Hymes, Davidson also pushes the academic envelope.

Davidson argues that tapes represent life. Tapes can be extensions of works—not replacements. Having tapes of performances represent attitude shifts and changes in life. Taped pieces can illuminate the written; new things can be seen that otherwise may have been missed in just reading the text. Tapes, he says, can be oral notebooks where listeners can learn the poet’s art of inflection. Tape should not be abhorred, but embraced. They have value as learning tools. People can compare two rendering of the same story. Poets and performers don’t have to worry about textual representation of their works. Tapes will not necessarily replace text and text-based criticism, but they will help to enhance performance particularly of the avant-garde.

If Vicuna was not alive and her performances were coming to us through straight textual translations, would they be the same? Authenticity may have been lost to improper de-coding. Conventional grammar and diction may have replaced deliberate line breaks and vocables. As Antin says, education does not a perfect decoder make.

"Words are time, simply time and sound" -Vicuna

*Note: Please see my last blog entry for an explanation of my in-class project.

"Words are time, simply time and sound"-Vicuna

Both Instan and Middle Passages challenge the reader of conventional poetry. They invite interpretation and inspire experimentation. After listening to the podcasts of Vicuna, I got a different impression than I had from reading Instan. I knew the text was something special and that it was not only visual poetry, but also it was art as well. After listening to her, however, I heard a mystical quality to her voice that reminded me of Maria Sabina. A soft-spoken woman, her syllables seem deliberate, emphatic and rhythmic. In the second performance, she shakes shells to her singing—one can hear the passion, feeling and her total absorption into her own words. "The universe was created by sound," and so she creates by sound (podcast 2 Vicuna). She creates her own ethereal universe as she sings and chants her poetry. One cannot minimize her poetic impact by labeling her merely a performance artist, or poet, or mystic. Indeed she manages to somewhat close the gap between the oral and textually based poetry. Instan has an oral quality to it—words chasing words on page. There’s no real linear structure as no page numbers exist—or even titles to the pieces, "Vicuna locates her poetry at the interstices of myth and language" (Sherwood 85). She is not strictly an oral or textual poet; rather she combines the two into her own system; "She does not simply ‘read’ poems from a written text, she weaves variations" (Sherwood 88).

Brathwaite’s Middle Passages seethes and teems with emotion. The book itself seems to breathe. Often, I had to stop and actually read the pieces aloud. In Brathwaite’s article he stresses that it is people who revolutionize language, and, indeed, he does (8). Like Vicuna, his passages are strong and emphatic—the text bursts with power, and textual play which brings an oral quality to the text itself. Each passage reads as its own narrative against slavery and societal notions. "Stone" is chilling and his homage to black singers, athletes, and politicians makes a strong statement. The deliberate line breaks enjambment and hard consonant sounds make his work come alive on the page. Like Vicuna, he breaks the barrier between the oral and the text. Each passage is almost like a ballad with a rhythmic flow. The text does not rely upon structure as much as it relies on wordplay—italics, bold print and hard stops. I appreciate his style, as I structure my own poetry in a similar manner. It is not about the text, but about the practitioner and what he or she brings to the word—and to the world.

Proposal for Final 765
Photography and Native American Narrative
Upon reading Leslie Marmon Silko’s Storyteller and Yellow Woman and a Beauty of the Spirit, I realize the importance of photography to her idea of narrative. Storyteller, I feel, is enhanced by the pictures. It is like opening up a family Bible. Each photo seems to bring about another memory for Silko. One cannot tell if the story sparks the picture or the picture sparks the story/memory.
My questions of interest are: Does photography enhance story-telling, or does it take something away from it? Can photography stand in place of a narrative? Finally, does technology take away from oral tradition? Does photography preserve tradition?

Sands of Time 2

Blog for October 26, 2005: Navajo Sand Painting

In class I explained and demonstrated a little about sand painting and the importance it has to Navajo healing ceremonies.

My sample explained:
This was a male shooting way painting. Used in healing or curing- to counter-act infection from lightning and arrows. Also for colds, fevers, rheumatism, paralysis, and abdominal pain.
This was a painting given to the Holy Man by the Sun, depicting a screen made of wooden rods which is part of the Sun’s House phase of the Male Shootingway Ceremony. The chanter makes the sand screen when he does not own such a screen in reality.

The Father Sky and Mother Earth Narrative
Father Sky and Mother Earth appear in many of the sand paintings throughout most of the Navajo healing ceremonies of "Ways." These include the Shooting Way, Mountain Way and Blessing Way. They are invoked not because of a part in a particular story, but because of their strength and all pervading importance.
Colors and Explanation of Sun’s House
There are Blue, white, black and yellow suns, moons, and winds
Black, white, blue, yellow cloud columns with birds over them
Yellow, blue, black, and white Sun’s House: made up of 4 little houses: yellow wind, sun, dark wind, and moon
Two sets of blue sun, white moon, black wind, yellow wind
The little circles are Sky people emerging from each cloud column
All surrounded by a rainbow bar and lightning: The rainbow allows the entrance of the Holy People
The colors correlate to the way the face should be painted during this particular ceremony

Closing Prayer from the Navajo Blessing Way Ceremony
Hózhóogo naasháa doo
Shitsijí' hózhóogo naasháa doo
Shikéédéé hózhóogo naasháa doo
Shideigi hózhóogo naasháa doo
T'áá altso shinaagóó hózhóogo naasháa doo
Hózhó náhásdlíí'
Hózhó náhásdlíí'
Hózhó náhásdlíí'
Hózhó náhásdlíí'

In beauty I walk
With beauty before me I walk
With beauty behind me I walk
With beauty above me I walk
With beauty around me I walk
It has become beauty again
It has become beauty again
It has become beauty again
It has become beauty again

For more information:
Read the Navajo Origin Story
The Book of the Navajo by Raymond Friday Locke
Sand paintings of the Navajo Shootingway and the Walcott Collection by Leland Wyman