| This is further complicated by the fact that performances often had multiple singers. The idea of authorship seems to have implanted itself in a tradition that is far removed from the preoccupations of ownership. The songs and the singers were receiving the flowers and songs from heaven, and yet, the modern critic still attempt to introduce the individual into the mix. The individualistic perspective does not align with the circular view and the collectively made works. While Lord argues that each performance is an author, I would go further and say that there is no author and there does not need to be one. The beauty of the poetry, even as removed as it is, does not come from knowing which specific poet we are attributing the song to. In fact, I believe that placing the idea of authorship into the reader's head, sets them up from the beginning to misunderstand the culture, purpose, and tradition of oral poetry. To put authorship on Nahuatl poetry is like trying to explain the way we think of time to someone in Hopi. Just as there are no words for past, present, and future in Hopi, we are trying to fit a round peg into a square hole. | This is further complicated by the fact that performances often had multiple singers. The idea of authorship seems to have implanted itself in a tradition that is far removed from the preoccupations of ownership. The singers were receiving the flowers and songs from heaven during collaborative ceremonies, and yet, the modern critic still attempts to introduce the individual into the mix. The individualistic perspective does not align with the circular view and the collectively made works. While Lord argues that each performance is an author, I would go further and say that there is no author and there does not need to be one. The beauty of the poetry, even as removed as it is, does not come from knowing which specific poet we are attributing the song to. In fact, I believe that placing the idea of authorship into the reader's head, sets them up from the beginning to misunderstand the culture, purpose, and tradition of oral poetry. To put authorship on Nahuatl poetry is like trying to explain the way we think of time to someone in Hopi. Just as there are no words for past, present, and future in Hopi, you can't fit a square peg into a round hole. |
