Afterword: Performing through the Past: Ethnophilology and Oral Tradition

Author(s): Timothy R. Tangherlini

Source: Western Folklore, Vol. 62, No. 1/2, Models of Performance in Oral Epic, Ballad, and
Song (Winter - Spring, 2003), pp. 143-149
Published by: Western States Folklore Society
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AFTERWORD

Performingthroughthe Past
and Oral Tradition1
Ethnophilology
TIMOTHYR. TANGHERLINI

TheysayI'm overrated, reallyhateit

musicians
Mynameis Run,I'm numberone,It'sverycomplicated
It'sTricky
torocka rhyme, torocka rhyme that'srighton time
It'sTricky
... It'sTricky,
Tricky,Tricky,
Tricky
Run D.M. C.

Vaskdrvakr,
barkon3saman
maemd'ljons
morginverkum,
hldak lojkdst
bannslengistendr
6brotgjarn
i bragittini.
[So I riseup early
to erectmyrhyme,
Mytonguetoils,
A servant at histask;
I pilethepraisestones,
The poemrises,
Mylabouris notlost,
Longmaymywordslive.]
Egil Skallagrimsson2

During the past three decades, folkloristshave focused considerable

attentionon the studyof traditionalperformance,proposing that an
understanding of folk expressions derive in large part from an

Western 62:1 & 2 (Winterand Spring2003):143-149. Copyright? 2004, CaliforniaFolkloreSociety

Folklore

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144 TIMOTHY R. TANGHERLINI

understandingof the emergent nature of traditionalexpression in

dynamicperformative contexts(Lord 1960; Bauman 1977; Hymes1962
and 1975; Toelken 1969). The underlyingidea of whatmightbe called
a "performancecentered"approach to the studyof traditionis thatthe
meaningsfor performerand audiences alike are created dynamically,
and arise duringperformance.Meaning,accordingly, is contingentand
neither predetermined nor absolute. The important theoretical
advances in the studyof traditionalexpressionattendantthisemphasis
on performancehave led to significant changes in the wayin whichwe
understanding variation and persistence(Lord 1960; Foley 1990), and
the waysin whichwe consider genre (Degh 1962; Holbek 1987); they
have allowed us to explore aspects of memory (Rubin 1995; Siikala
1990), and have helped us addressthe role of local and global political
considerationsthat often informtraditionalexpression (Mills 1990;
Reynolds 1995; Bendix 1997). In this model, traditionalexpression
becomes rightfully linked to the historicallysituatedperformersand
audiences-tradition does not exist outside of the traditionpartici-
pants-and our studiesnow acknowledgemore than ever the embed-
dedness of traditionalexpressionsin theirperformative contexts.
This emphasison performancecontext,however,unfortunately led
some folklorists to conclude thatthisapproach precluded the studyof
earliertraditionalexpressionssince,in manycases, these earlyrecords
werenot linkedin anywayto descriptionsof performancecontexts,nor
did there appear to be much ancillaryevidence concerningthe meth-
ods and contextsforperformance.Furthermorethe datingand prove-
nance of theseearlytextswas at timesquite muddled.For some of these
"performance oriented" scholars, everythingfrom classical and
medievaltextsbased in parton oral traditionsthroughthegreatfolklore
collectionsof the nineteenthcenturybecame suspect.This intellectual
developmentwas somewhatsurprising, since manyof the earlyadvances
in the studyof performancewere initiatedby scholarsprimarilyinter-
ested in earliertraditions.
In addition to questions about the usefulnessof earliercollections,
concernswereraisedabout the traditionalnatureofmanyof theseearly
textsand their relationshipto oral tradition-for instance,since the
only records of the presumed performanceswere these literaryones,
did these textstrulyreflectoral performance?One need onlythinkof
Saxo the Grammarian'stwelfthcenturyrewriting of Nordic legends to
recognize some of the difficulties
confronting scholars of earlytradi-
tions in lightof the importanceof performancestudies.Not only did

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 thePast
through
Performing 145

Saxo writehis chronicle of the Danes in Latin, apparentlytranslating

manyof the presumablyoral storiesthatlay behind much of the com-
position,but he also edited,rewroteand reorganizedhis materialsinto
a more or less coherentnarrative(Olrik et al. 1931-1957). Perhapsless
extremecases, such as the Icelandic sagas, the authorsof which most
likelyrelied on both writtenand oral sources, mightbe more fitting
examples for an explorationof performancein medievalScandinavia.
Yetthese textsas well seem to be nearlyimpenetrablegiventhe extraor-
dinarycomplexityof tracingsources and the highlyspeculativeenter-
prise of listening for the lost echoes of long vanished voices in
performance.
At firstglance, the difficultiesconfrontingmedieval, classical and
other historicallyoriented scholars for recoveringlost performances
seem almost overwhelming.And because of these complexitiesthat
accrue to the studyof earlytexts,the answerto the questionofwhether
one could explore the dynamicsoffolkperformancein earliercultures
throughthe studyof the textualrecordwas apparently"no."This unfor-
tunateconclusion,whichgained considerableacceptance among many
young folkloristsin the 1980s and 1990s, led to a division-at least
among studentsand at timesamong theirteachers-between thosewho
emphasized texts(read the past) and those who emphasized perform-
ance (read the presentand the future).The studyof performancewas,
of course,seen to be a farsexierenterprisethan the studyof old manu-
scripts.
Yet,the stateof affairsis not nearlyas bleak as some mayhave it,and
the scholarswho focusprimarilyon textsdo have an opportunityto be
sexyas well. Indeed, there exist numerous possibilitiesfor the recon-
structiveenterpriseof tracingaspectsof performancein older texts.Of
course, the divisionbetween text and performancewas primarilyan
unfortunatemisunderstanding of both the studyof textsand the study
of performances.This hypotheticaldivisionwas premisedon two mis-
leading suppositions,namely that the studyof performancewas not
based ultimatelyon a studyof texts (the ethnographicrecordingof a
performance)-a positionthatthewritings Marcusand oth-
of Clifford,
ers should have dispelled (1986)-and thattextsdo not containhintsto
eithertheirown performanceor to the performanceof the expressions
on whichthe textsare based. Perhapsone of the best refutations of this
latter point is Terry Gunnell's impressiverehabilitationof Bertha
Philpotts'sideas concerningthe dramaticperformanceof Eddic poems
as scriptsfor monologic or dialogic theatricalperformance(Gunnell

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146 TIMOTHY R. TANGHERLINI

1995; Phillpotts1920). While Gunnell's conclusionsmay not convince

everyone,he does providea model forusingphilologicalevidencecou-
pled to an understandingofperformancederivedin largepartfromthe
studyof contemporarytraditionsto propose a framework forthe recov-
ery of lost performances based on philologicaland
cultural,
historical,
other textualevidence.This approach, dubbed "ethnopaleography" by
Dennis Tedlock, ethnoarchaeologyby others, and reconsidered as
"ethnophilology" byJosephHarrisis one of thepromisingwaysin which
the clues of earlierperformativetraditionscan be read throughtexts
like the Eddic corpus (Harris,thisvolume).
Indeed, as the essaysin thisvolume attest,despite the lack of clear
ethnographicfielddata describinghow,whenand wheresomethingmay
have been performed,and despitethe accretionof literarydevicesthat
would apparentlyreduce the discussionof medieval performanceto
somethingakin to idle speculation,a rigorousmethodologycan be
derivedthatallowsus to animateperformances fromlong ago. One ofthe
keysto thisprocessofreanimationofthetextualremnantsofonce vibrant
traditionsis a clear understandingof contemporary performances. This
verytypeof approach informedthe worksof MilmanParryand Albert
Lord: theirearliestforaysinto the field,collectingthe now well-known
epics of Serbianand Croatiansingerswas motivatedin partbytheirques-
tionsconcerningHomericepic and itsperformance(Lord 1960).
A similarethnophilologicalapproach informsmanyof the papers in
thiscurrentvolume,whereexplorationsofcontemporary performances
of analogous traditionshelp develop an analyticalmatrixforthe under-
standingof earlier texts.As Niles points out, "One has to be able to
imaginea past thatis not there,not onlygazingat the materialtracesof
formercivilizationsbut also using the methodsof ethnoarchaeologyto
make reasonableinferencesregardingpast culturalpatternsbyextrapo-
lating from living phenomena" (Niles, this volume). For example,
Reichluses Turkicoral poeticperformanceas an analogous counterpart
to the singingof Middle English popular romance, Toelken looks at
more recent performativecontextsof popular ballads for explaining
ellipsisin earlycollected variants,while Harrisrereads the eighteenth
centurydiscussionsofEddic singing,as a meansto commenton a poten-
tialperformative model forthisverse (and a strongalternative--orper-
haps coperformative mode-to the dramaticperformancesuggestedby
Gunnell1995). Byunderstandingtheperformanceofanalogous expres-
sions in contemporarytraditions,one can reread the earliertexts,and
make surmisesabout the performanceof thesetexts,whichcan thenbe

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 Performing thePast
through 147

checkedagainstothersimilartextsfromthesame or othertraditions.Of
course, as witharchaeology,thistypeof ethnophilologyis stillspecula-
tive-but it is an informedspeculation.As Martinnotes in his essay,
these models "do not 'prove' anythingabout the textsin question,but
mightprovidebetterhypotheses"(Martin,thisvolume).
At the same time as we acknowledgethe usefulnessof illuminating
earlierperformanceswiththe spotlightof contemporarytraditions, it is
important forus to recognizethatthisuse of analogous traditionsfrom
differenthistoricalperiods to informour hypothesesis not a one-way
street.It seems prudentto me thatstudentsof contemporaryperform-
ance should also explore thefindingsoftheirmorehistorically oriented
colleagues as a means for the of
understanding performance contem-
porarytraditions.So, as an obvious example, Parryand Lord's under-
standingof the Serbianand Croatianepic singerswas as muchinformed
bytheirexplorationsof the Classicalepic, as theirunderstandingof the
Classical epic was informedby theirexplorationsof the contemporary
tradition.We can and mustuse contemporary performative traditionsto
understandearlier traditionalperformances,but at the same timewe
can and must use our advances in the studyof earlier traditionsto
understandthose same contemporarytraditions.
While I mayseem to be beggingthe question,the dynamicsof tradi-
tionitselfseem to warrantthisposition.Althoughthereare greatconti-
nuitiesin traditionalexpressionand performanceacrosstime,thereare
also intriguingdifferences. The epigrammaticpairingof a scaldicverse
and a recent rap song at the beginningof this shortafterwordis not
solelya humorousgesturetowardpopular culture.Ratheritseemslikely
that an understandingof contemporaryexpressionmay well help us
hypothesizeabout earlierperformative contexts,just as an understand-
ing of the historicaland culturalexigenciesthatinformedthe composi-
tion of a medievalpoem mayhelp informour understandingof similar
contemporaryphenomena (Halama 1996). So whenthe rapperand the
scald boast about theirpoetic prowess,and the difficulties of theirart,
theymaybe performinga duet acrossthe centuries.
Los Angeles
ofCalifornia,
University

NOTES
1. I use the term"ethnophilology" thelead takenbyJoseph
here,following
Harrisin hisarticleincludedin thisvolume.

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148 TIMOTHYR. TANGHERLINI

2. NormalizedversefromNordal 1933:267;proposed translationbyPilsson and

Edwards1976 (1982):215.

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