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| ====== Author ====== | ====== Tell It Like It's Right in Front of You by Dennis Tedlock ====== |
| Tedlock was a cofounder of [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethnopoetics#:~:text=Ethnopoetics%20is%20a%20method%20of,lost%20in%20the%20written%20texts.|ethnopoetics]] in the 1960s, along with Jerome Rothenberg. Early elements of ethnopoetics can be seen in Tedlock's writing through his focus on including clear performative elements in the traditional stories of the Zuni people to preserve their authentic meanings. | |
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| | ====== Author: Dennis Tedlock ====== |
| | [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dennis_Tedlock|Tedlock]] was a cofounder of ethnopoetics in the 1960s, along with Jerome Rothenberg. Early elements of ethnopoetics can be seen in Tedlock's writing through his focus on including clear performative elements in the traditional stories of the Zuni people to preserve their authentic meanings. |
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| Along with working with texts of the Zuni people, Tedlock was known for his focus on Mayan language and culture. His most famous work is the translation of //[[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Popol_Vuh|Popul Vuh]]//, which entails the creation story of the Mayans. An excerpt from //Popul Vuh// is included in the Preludium of //The Serpent and the Fire// (12-15). | Along with working with texts of the Zuni people, Tedlock was known for his focus on Mayan language and culture. His most famous work is the translation of //[[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Popol_Vuh|Popul Vuh]]//, which entails the creation story of the Mayans. An excerpt from //Popul Vuh// is included in the Preludium of //The Serpent and the Fire// (12-15). |
| ====== Example ====== | ====== Example ====== |
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| After reviewing the elements of telling traditional Indian stories, Tedlock shares one of these stories with the audience called //A Mural with No Wall//. The story focuses on dancers who impersonate [[https://www.warscapes.com/poetry/mural-no-wall|Shumeekuli]], spirit beings in Zuni culture. The dancer dressed as the White Shumeekuli goes crazy and runs away from the dance until he is later caught by the others. When the dancers try to unmask him, the mask sticks to his face and some skin comes off with it. This process eventually repeats with another dancer, who meets the same fate. From this tale, it is said that "when someone comes into the Yayya dance as the White Shumeekuli . . . something will inevitably happen to his mind," representing the spirt taking over the human (380). Tedlock ends the story by saying that is what caused the White Shumeekuli to become feared. | After reviewing the elements of telling traditional Indian stories, Tedlock shares one of these stories with the audience. The story focuses on dancers who impersonate [[https://www.warscapes.com/poetry/mural-no-wall|Shumeekuli]], spirit beings in Zuni culture. The dancer dressed as the White Shumeekuli goes crazy and runs away from the dance until he is later caught by the others. When the dancers try to unmask him, the mask sticks to his face and some skin comes off with it. This process eventually repeats with another dancer, who meets the same fate. From this tale, it is said that "when someone comes into the Yayya dance as the White Shumeekuli . . . something will inevitably happen to his mind," representing the spirt taking over the human soul (380). Tedlock ends the story by saying that is what caused the White Shumeekuli to become feared. |
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| As Tedlock shares this story, he applies all of the previous elements he discusses on storytelling: | As Tedlock shares this story, he applies all of the previous elements he discussed on storytelling: |
| - __He provides the audience with a sense of direction__: "Kachina's live other //there// [indicates west] ∙ but the Shumeekuli live over here, to the east [indicates east] (378). | - __He provides the audience with a sense of direction__: "Kachina's live other //there// [indicates west] ∙ but the Shumeekuli live over here, to the east [indicates east] (378). |
| - __He connects the story to the present__: "I've chosen this particular story because ∙ this is one that can be told at any time of year . . . that can be told at any day or night ∙ and whether there are snakes around or not" (378). | - __He connects the story to the present__: "I've chosen this particular story because ∙ this is one that can be told at any time of year . . . that can be told at any day or night ∙ and whether there are snakes around or not" (378). |
| - __He applies the elements of poetry to bring the performance to life__: [chanting] The--------re goes our white Shu -------- meekuli running a --- wa --------y whoever is out there please help us ∙ CATCH HIM FOR US (379). -> The version of this quote in //Symposium of the Whole// provides the stylistic choice of slanted letters as well. | - __He applies the elements of poetry to bring the performance to life__: [chanting] The--------re goes our white Shu -------- meekuli running a --- wa --------y whoever is out there please help us ∙ CATCH HIM FOR US (379). -> The version of this quote in //Symposium of the Whole// provides the stylistic choice of slanted letters as well. |
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| | ====== References ====== |
| | “A Mural with No Wall.” Warscapes, 2 June 2015, www.warscapes.com/poetry/mural-no-wall. |
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| | “Dennis Tedlock.” Wikipedia, [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dennis_Tedlock|https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dennis_Tedlock]]. |
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| | “Popol Vuh.” Wikipedia, [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Popol_Vuh|https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Popol_Vuh]]. |
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| | “Zuni.” Wikipedia, [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zuni_people|https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zuni_people]]. |
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| | {{tag>Essay Oral_Tradition Orality Zuni Ritual Story Dennis_Tedlock}} |
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