Description
Book SynopsisThe aim of this book is to revisit Ossian, whilst broadening the scope of oral literature and translation to embrace cultural contexts outside of Europe. Epics, ballads, prose tales, ritual and lyric songs, as genres, existed orally before writing was invented. Serious debate about them, at least in modern Western culture, may be said to have begun with James Macpherson and Thomas Percy. Considering the ongoing debate on orality and authenticity in the case of Ossian, this book includes ground-breaking, previously published essays which provide essential information relating to orality, Ossian and translation, but have been frequently overlooked. Its contributions focus on the aspects of authenticity, transmediation, popular poetry and music, examining Scottish, German, Portuguese, Brazilian, African, American Indian, Indian and Chinese literatures.
Table of ContentsDr Johnson and the Ruffian: New Evidence in the Dispute between Samuel Johnson and James Macpherson
What Did James Macpherson Really Leave on Display at His Publisher’s Shop in 1762?
James Macpherson’s Poems of Ossian: A Translation of "Low" Culture into "High"?
Ossian and Orality; or the Sound of Ossian
Genre and Gender: Ossianic Poetry from Oral Tradition to National Epic and Lyrical Drama
"Original Harmony": Ossianic Voices in Alencar’s Indianist Novels
Ossian in the New World: Alexandre Levy’s Symphonic Poem, Comala
Confessions of a Justified Folklorist
The American Indian Oral Tradition
Fictional Representations of Cultural Realities: Orality and Literature in Novels of Salman Rushdie, Kiran Desai and Arundhati Roy
Different Pathways in Traditional Portuguese and Chinese Literature
