Demonstrates the range of human expression and meaning through performance in related fields of religious & ritual studies, folkloristics, theatre, language arts, and
Trade Review
“This volume is a comprehensive and well-structured compilation of previously published essays, articulating how anthropology has explored diverse instances of performance . . This book will be of great use to graduate students looking to specialize in the field, or faculty members who wish to deepen their understanding of established concepts and perhaps recast their own work.” (Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute, 1 June 2015)
Table of Contents
Acknowledgments to Sources vii
The Anthropology of Performance: An Introduction 1
Frank J. Korom
Part I Performance in Prehistory and Antiquity 9
1 Singing the Rug: Patterned Textiles and the Origins of Indo-European Metrical Poetry 11
Anthony Tuck
2 Performance and Written Literature in Classical Greece: Envisaging Performance from Written Literature and Comparative Contexts 26
Rosalind Thomas
Part II Verbal Genres of Performance 37
3 Playing the Dozens 39
Roger D. Abrahams
4 The La Have Island General Store: Sociability and Verbal Art in a Nova Scotia Community 49
Richard Bauman
5 Proverbs and the Ethnography of Speaking Folklore 61
E. Ojo Arewa and Alan Dundes
6 Gbaya Riddles in Changing Times 73
Philip A. Noss
7 Shadows of Song: Exploring Research and Performance Strategies in Yolngu Women’s Crying-Songs 80
Fiona Magowan
Part III Ritual, Drama, and Public Spectacle 95
8 Prayer as Person: The Performative Force in Navajo Prayer Acts 97
Sam D. Gill
9 Performance and the Cultural Construction of Reality 107
Edward L. Schieffelin
10 “He Should Have Worn a Sari”: A “Failed” Performance of a Central Indian Oral Epic 124
Joyce Burkhalter Flueckiger
11 Representing History: Performing the Columbian Exposition 133
Rosemarie K. Bank
12 The Palio of Siena: Performance and Process 150
Alice Pomponio Logan
Part IV Performance and Politics in the Making of Communities 165
13 Poetry and Politics in a Transylvanian Village 167
Gail Kligman
14 The Matter of Talk: Political Performances in Bhatgaon 174
Donald Brenneis
15 Celebrating Cricket: The Symbolic Construction of Caribbean Politics 183
Frank E. Manning
16 Performing the Nation: China’s Children as Little Red Pioneers 199
T.E. Woronov
Part V Tourist Performances and the Global Ecumene 215
17 The Promise of Sonic Translation: Performing the Festive Sacred in Morocco 217
Deborah A. Kapchan
18 Ethnic Tourism in Hokkaidoˆ and the Shaping of Ainu Identity 234
Lisa Hiwasaki
19 What They Came With: Carnival and the Persistence of African Performance Aesthetics in the Diaspora 250
Esiaba Irobi
20 Global Breakdancing and the Intercultural Body 260
Halifu Osumare
Further Readings 273
Index 287
