1.

Record Nr.

UNINA9910141822503321

Titolo

Sung tales from the Papua New Guinea Highlands : studies in form, meaning, and sociocultural context / / edited by Alan Rumsey & Don Niles

Pubbl/distr/stampa

Canberra, Australia : , : ANU Press, , [2011]

©2011

ISBN

1-921862-20-3

Descrizione fisica

1 online resource (330 pages) : illustrations, portraits, maps, music

Disciplina

781.629912

Soggetti

Epic poetry

Ethnomusicology - Papua New Guinea

Folk music - Papua New Guinea

Papua New Guinea Songs and music

Lingua di pubblicazione

Inglese

Formato

Materiale a stampa

Livello bibliografico

Monografia

Nota di bibliografia

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Sommario/riassunto

The genres of sung tales that are the subject of this volume are one of the most striking aspects of the cultural scene in the Papua New Guinea Highlands. Composed and performed by specialist bards, they are a highly valued art form. From a comparative viewpoint they are remarkable both for their scale and complexity, and for the range of variation that is found among regional genres and individual styles. Though their existence has previously been noted by researchers working in the Highlands, and some recordings made of them, most of these genres have not been studied in detail until quite recently, mainly because of the challenging range of disciplinary expertise that is required" in anthropology, linguistics, and ethnomusicology. This volume presents a set of interrelated studies by researchers in all of those fields, and by a Papua New Guinea Highlander who has assisted with the research based on his lifelong familiarity with one of the regional genres. The studies presented here (all of them previously unpublished and written especially for this volume) are of groundbreaking significance not only for specialists in Melanesia or the



Pacific, but also for readers with a more general interest in comparative poetics, mythology, musicology, or verbal art.