Living through TransitionThe Poetic Tradition of the Jbala between Orality and Literacy at a Time of Major Cultural Transformations

  1. Sarali Gintsburg 1
  1. 1 Universidad de Navarra
    info

    Universidad de Navarra

    Pamplona, España

    ROR https://ror.org/02rxc7m23

Revista:
RILCE: Revista de filología hispánica

ISSN: 0213-2370

Ano de publicación: 2020

Título do exemplar: Transitional Texts: Drifting between the Oral and the Written

Volume: 36

Número: 4

Páxinas: 1434-1454

Tipo: Artigo

DOI: 10.15581/008.36.4.1434-54 DIALNET GOOGLE SCHOLAR lock_openAcceso aberto editor

Outras publicacións en: RILCE: Revista de filología hispánica

Obxectivos de Desenvolvemento Sustentable

Resumo

In my paper I analyze transformations happening in the oral tradition of the Jbala, an Arabic speaking ethnic group inhabiting the western and central part of the Rif mountains of northern Morocco. My analysis centers on the work of two modern poets, who although they see themselves belonging to the oral tradition, compose their poetry in writing. Their poetry is, therefore, characterized by use of two different, and, to some degree, opposite modes of language – the oral and the written. This is especially interesting in the context of the Arabic language, where, officially, only Standard Arabic exists in two modes – oral and written, while its dialectal varieties are seen as exclusively oral forms of communication and ‘vulgar’ poetry. The textual analysis will be substantiated by information received directly from both poets. To complement this analysis I examine this tradition through the lens of major cultural and identity changes occurring in local Moroccan genres and traditions at the national level and argue that the oral tradition of the Jbala is converging with the more popular and prestigious tradition of the malhun.

Referencias bibliográficas

  • Alwaya, Semha. “Formulas and Themes in Contemporary Bedouin Oral Poetry”. Journal of Arabic Literature 8 (1978): 48-76.
  • Ayerbe Linares, Miguel. “La evolución de un mismo cantar heroico desde su transmisión oral a su transmisión escrita: el caso del Cantar de Hildebrando alemán”. Transitional Texts: Drifting between the Oral and the Written. Eds. S. Gintsburg, J. Ford & A. Barandiaran. Special issue of Rilce 36.4 (2020): 1344-70.
  • Duggan, Joseph. The Song of Roland: Formulaic Style and Poetic Craft. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1973.
  • Fellahi, S., and C. Ijjou. “Le Melhun marocain: poétique, chant et musique”. ScienceLib Editions Mersenne 5 (2013): 1-17.
  • Finnegan, Ruth. Oral literature in Africa. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 2012.
  • Finnegan, Ruth. Oral poetry: its nature, significance and social context. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1977.
  • Ford, John. “Oral elements as literary skeuomorphs in the Middle English verse romances”. Transitional Texts: Drifting between the Oral and the Written. Eds. S. Gintsburg, J. Ford & A. Barandiaran. Special issue of Rilce 36.4 (2020): 1275-323.
  • Frolov, Dmitriy. “Path or Way”. Encyclopaedia of the Qurån. Vol 4. Leiden: Brill, 2001. 28-31.
  • Fry, Donald. “The Cliff of Death in Old English Poetry”. Comparative Research in Oral Traditions: A Memorial for Milman Parry. Ed. J. M. Foley. Columbus: Slavica, 1987. 213-34.
  • Gintsburg, Sarali. “Seven folk songs from the region of the Jbala”. Acta Orientalia 66 (2005): 73-107.
  • Gintsburg, Sarali. “Some observations on the poetical language of love songs in the dialect of the Jbala”. Al-Andalus-Magreb 13 (2006): 139-61.
  • Gintsburg, Sarali. Formulaicity in Jbala Poetry (northern Morocco). Tilburg: Prisma, 2014.
  • Gintsburg, Sarali. “It’s got some meaning but I am not sure... The role of the particle (wa)-ma in the oral and transitional poetry of the Jbala (northern Morocco) from the cognitive perspective”. Pragmatics & Cognition 24.3 (2017): 474-95.
  • Gintsburg, Sarali. “Lost in dictation. A cognitive approach to oral poetry: Frames, scripts and «unnecesary» words in the Jebli ayyu”. Language & Communication 64 (2019a): 104-15.
  • Gintsburg, Sarali. “A Cognitive Approach to Traditional Oral Poetry: Frames and Scripts in the Jebli Ayyu”. Al-Andalus Magreb 26 (2019b): 1-23.
  • Gintsburg, Sarali. “Identity, Place, Space, and Rhymes During a Pilgrimage to the Shrine of Moulay Abdessalam, Morocco”. Journal of Religion in Africa 48.3 (2019c): 204-30.
  • Laroui, Fouad. Le Drame linguistique marocain. Casablanca: Le Fennec, 2011.
  • Lévy-Provençal, E. “Un chant populaire religieux du Djebel marocain”. Revue africaine 295 (1918): 215-48.
  • Liebhaber, Samuel. “Messages, Texts, and Rhetorical Detachment in Contemporary Mahri Poetry”. Transitional Texts: Drifting between the Oral and the Written. Eds. S. Gintsburg, J. Ford & A. Barandiaran. Special issue of Rilce 36.4 (2020): 1403-14.
  • Lord, Albert. The Singer of Tales. Cambridge, MA: Harvard UP, 1960.
  • Magidow, Melanie. “Trending classic: the cultural register of Moroccan Malhun poetry”. The Journal of North African Studies 21.2 (2016): 310-34.
  • Michaux-Belaire, Édouard. “Quelques tribus de montagnes de la region du Habt”. Archives marocaines 17 (1911): 1-11.
  • Monroe, James. “Oral Composition in Pre-Islamic Poetry”. Journal of Arabic Literature 3 (1972): 1-53.
  • Murray, Alan. “The Livonian Rhymed Chronicle as a Transitional Text Formulaic Language in Middle High German Verse History”. Transitional Texts: Drifting between the Oral and the Written. Eds. S. Gintsburg, J. Ford & A. Barandiaran. Special issue of Rilce 36.4 (2020): 1324-43.
  • Parry, Milman. L’Epithète traditionnelle dans Homère: essai sur un problème de style homérique. Paris: Les Belles Lettres, 1928.
  • Pellat, Charles. “Malhun”. Encyclopaedia of Islam. Vol. 6. Leiden: Brill, 1991. 247-57.
  • Pereda Roig, Carlos. Coplas de la región de Yebala, norte de Marruecos. Presentation, research, comments, glossary, and bibliography by F. Moscoso García. Barcelona: Bellaterra, 2014.
  • Smith, John. “Formulaic language and the epics of India”. The Heroic Process: Form, Function and Fantasy in Heroic Epic. Eds. B. Almqvist, S. Ó Catháin and P. Ó Héalaí. Dun Laoghaire: Glendale Press, 1987. 591-611.
  • Zwettler, Michael. The Oral Tradition of Classical Arabic Poetry: Its Character and Implications. Columbus: Ohio State UP, 1978.
Fonte de datos: Dialnet