Notes on the Old Assyrian Sargon legend

Iraq ◽  
2007 ◽  
Vol 69 ◽  
pp. 21-27 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joan Goodnick Westenholz
Keyword(s):  
Building Blocks ◽  
Oral Traditions ◽  
Oral Literature ◽  
Written Composition ◽  
The Moment ◽  
Suggested Reading ◽  
At Will

I would like to express my thanks to Bendt Alster and Takayoshi Oshima for giving me the opportunity to add a few comments on their article. Within the limits of these pages, I will restrict myself to certain general subjects and one theme in the Old Assyrian Sargon Legend.As Alster and Oshima suggest above, the Old Assyrian Sargon Legend is obviously a written improvisation. However, improvisation has little to do with whether the text is to be taken in a serious (Hecker, Dercksen) or trivial (“humorous”) manner (Van De Mieroop, Foster, Cavigneaux, Alster and Oshima) nor does it relate to accuracy (see Alster and Oshima, fn. 17). Rather, it relates to the mode of composition: whether or not a fixed text was followed, whether or not there was a written model (see Alster and Oshima, fn. 17). In my opinion, this text is a written “improvised” composition based on oral traditions (see also Alster and Oshima, pp. 2 and fn. 8, 6 and 8, Cavigneaux 2005: 596). In this period, orality and literacy existed alongside each other. This written composition may have developed from an oral set of thematic scenes, the building blocks of traditional oral literature. The episodic structure of the narrative reflects such a concatenation of scenes. These oral building blocks could be varied at will according to the needs of the moment, modified to suit the new purposes and new places. It can be deduced that such legends were known orally from internal evidence — the words placed in the mouth of Sargon in this Old Assyrian composition, “Why should I enlarge (upon this theme) in an inscription? Where do (peoples) noi know me (a-«a»)-nu-um lá i-tí-a-ni, suggested reading of Aage Westenholz), that I am the King, that I conquered the Upper and Lower Lands?” (ll. 63–5). In this writer's opinion, these lines indicate that the author implies that Sargon's fame is so well known that it does not need to be written down.

NILAI-NILAI KEARIFAN LOKAL DALAM TRADISI LISAN WARAG-WARAH DAN RINGGOK-RINGGOK SUKU KOMERING, SUMATERA SELATAN (VALUES OF LOCAL WISDOM IN ORAL TRADITION OF WARAH WARAH AND RINGGOK-RINGGOK OF KOMERING TRIBE, SOUTH SUMATRA)

ALAYASASTRA ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 73
Author(s):  
Ery Agus Kurnianto
Keyword(s):  
Social Relations ◽  
Oral Tradition ◽  
Social Groups ◽  
Qualitative Approach ◽  
Oral Traditions ◽  
Oral Literature ◽  
Belief In God ◽  
Real Effort ◽  
Descriptive Method

The focus of the problem in this study is the values of local wisdom within two oral traditions of Warag-Warah and Ringgok-Ringgok of Komering Tribe, South Sumatra. This study aimed to identify and to describe elements of local wisdom within those oral traditions. In addition, this study was established as a real effort to explore, to inventorize, and to document the oral traditions of Komering society. A descriptive method was applied in this study. The data were analyzed by applying qualitative approach on ethnographic elements to demonstrate and explain the value of local wisdom within those oral traditions. The theory applied in this study were oral literature and local wisdom. The conclusion from the analysis proved that there was a concept of social relations among individuals, among individuals and society, among social groups, and among individuals and their God. The value of local wisdom that had been identified were: 1) belief in God, 2) deliberation, 3) responsibility and 4) helping each other. The actualization of the value of local wisdom within the oral traditions of Warag-Warah and Ringgok-Ringgok was in form of behaving in ways that help each other, solving problems by means of deliberation and responsibility. Keywords: Oral tradition, warah-warah, ringgok-ringgok, local wisdom values.

scholarly journals Studying Characteristic and Identity through Oral Literature in Malaynese

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tasnim Lubis
Keyword(s):  
Language Use ◽  
Speech Community ◽  
Oral Literature ◽  
The Moment ◽  
The Way

In oral literature, the moment that people remember most is could be the way the performer in performing it, the intonation, the history beyond, the particular sayings, or the performer itself. It depends on the listeners’ background about how they achieved. Among of them, oral literature has important role in sharing information among a speech community because the listeners are able to get the message directly without any interpretation. Consequenty, the study of oral literature is not merely study the language as principal but also language use because it is related to the character and identity. In addition, the study tends to have information from native view because it is related to their concept in mind. This study discussed about the concept of oral literature, the role of oral literature of Malaynese in building character and identity, and the role of Antropolinguistik as interdisipliner to analize oral literature in Malaynese.

scholarly journals Oral Tradition of Dusun Bangko Community Merangin District Jambi Province

2020 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 70-76
Author(s):  
Janiko Janiko ◽  
Atmazaki Atmazaki ◽  
Novia Juita
Keyword(s):  
Oral Tradition ◽  
Oral Traditions ◽  
Oral Literature ◽  
Way Of Life ◽  
Delivery Method ◽  
Analysis Techniques ◽  
The People ◽  
Descriptive Approach ◽  
Research Questions ◽  
Questionnaire Research

This study aims to describe the form, function and meaning of oral literary sayings that exist in the people of Dusun Bangko in Jambi Province. Theories used in this study are oral traditions, functions of oral traditions, oral literature, and folklore. This type of research is a qualitative research with a descriptive approach. Data collection techniques are interviews, observation, documentation, and questionnaire research questions. Data analysis techniques are data reduction, presenting data, and conclusions. Based on data obtained in the field, the forms of oral traditions that developed in Dusun Bangko are petatah petitih, seloko and rhymes. All three oral traditions were once developed. However, at this time the Seloko has begun to be rarely used. While rhymes and petatah petitih very much used by the community. The function of oral tradition is as a reference for oneself and society so that it does not deviate from ethics, morals, and religion. Another goal is to cultivate human morals be better in order to give meaning to life. Furthermore, as a guide for a better way of life future. The meaning of oral traditions that develop in the community is very much. For example the meaning when doing immoral acts is different from stealing and the delivery method is also different. His sayings lead to destruction if life is not in accordance with the demands of the Qur'an and the Sunnah of Prophet Muhammad SAW.

It-Narrative and the Book as Agent

2012 ◽  
Author(s):  
Leah Price
Keyword(s):  
Human Subjects ◽  
Life Writing ◽  
Building Blocks ◽  
History Of The Book ◽  
Common Interest ◽  
Recent Book ◽  
Historical Scholarship ◽  
Shared Attention ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Moment

This chapter argues that the most productive overlap between recent book-historical scholarship and the longer tradition of bibliographically themed life writing lies not in their common interest in human subjects, but rather in their shared attention to the circulation of things. Analytical bibliographers have shown that books accrue meaning not just at the moment of manufacture, but through their subsequent uses: buying and selling, lending and borrowing, preserving and destroying. A history of the book that took that whole range of transactions as building blocks could usefully borrow its formal conventions from the “it-narrative”: a fictional autobiography in which a thing traces its travels among a series of richer and poorer owners.

Commentary: Music Learning and Teaching in Infancy and Early Childhood

2012 ◽  
pp. 226-228
Author(s):  
Margaret S. Barrett
Keyword(s):  
Oral Tradition ◽  
Oral Traditions ◽  
Music Learning ◽  
Early Music ◽  
Learning And Teaching ◽  
Music Making ◽  
Musical Cultures ◽  
Characteristic Features ◽  
The Moment ◽  
Infancy And Early Childhood

This article, which presents an overview by exploring the characteristic features of a range of musical beginnings and the possibilities for learning that are evidenced, demonstrates that much of young children's early music-making is improvised in the moment as a means to communicate with others and self. Such communications, from responses and exchanges in “motherese” or “parentese” to young children's independent invented song-making, may be regarded as the first “oral tradition.” Oral traditions draw on the power of repetition and the human urge to generate and create. Their musical outputs feature elaboration and ideational fluency as well as the acknowledgment of the musical cultures from which the tradition arises.

Synthetic zinc finger peptides: old and novel applications

2004 ◽  
Vol 82 (4) ◽  
pp. 428-436 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicoletta Corbi ◽  
Valentina Libri ◽  
Annalisa Onori ◽  
Claudio Passananti
Keyword(s):  
Gene Therapy ◽  
Zinc Finger ◽  
Chromatin Modification ◽  
Building Blocks ◽  
Artificial Transcription Factor ◽  
Finger Peptides ◽  
Finger Recognition ◽  
Novel Applications ◽  
Recognition Code ◽  
At Will

In the last decade, the efforts in clarifying the interaction between zinc finger proteins and DNA targets strongly stimulated the creativity of scientists in the field of protein engineering. In particular, the versatility and the modularity of zinc finger (ZF) motives make these domains optimal building blocks for generating artificial zinc finger peptides (ZFPs). ZFPs can act as transcription modulators potentially able to control the expression of any desired gene, when fused to an appropriate effector domain. Artificial ZFPs open the possibility to re-program the expression of specific genes at will and can represent a powerful tool in basic science, biotechnology and gene therapy. In this review we will focus on old, novel and possible future applications of artificial ZFPs.Key words: synthetic zinc finger, recognition code, artificial transcription factor, chromatin modification, gene therapy.

Ideological Confrontation and the Manipulation of Oral History: a Zambesian Case

1987 ◽  
Vol 14 ◽  
pp. 257-273
Author(s):  
Matthew Schoffeleers
Keyword(s):  
Oral History ◽  
Scarce Resource ◽  
The Political ◽  
Political Systems ◽  
The Past ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Origin Myths ◽  
The Moment ◽  
At Will ◽  
Original Event

Ever since Malinowski formulated his concept of myths as charters, there has been a tendency among anthropologists to regard origin myths more or less as post factum constructs designed to legitimize existing privileges and positions. A classic example of this pragmatist view is Leach's study of political systems in highland Burma, in which he attempts to demonstrate that origin myths change with clocklike regularity in response to shifts in the political constellation. More recently, however, voices have been raised, particularly among historians, which insist that a society's past cannot always be manipulated at will, but that under certain conditions it has to be treated circumspectly in the way one deals with any scarce resource.My own interpretation of this view is that accounts of the past, when they concern important aspects of a society, are often (or perhaps always) constructed in such a way that the original event is somehow preserved and recoverable. The qualification “somehow” is added on purpose to make clear that the phrase ‘oral history’ refers to such a wide range of genres and mnemonic techniques, and that the methods at our disposal to extract the original event are still so rudimentary--despite the progress made over the past dozen years or so--that for the moment one cannot do more than express belief in our ultimate capability to discover what happened in actual fact.

Praise Poems as Historical Data: the Example of the Yoruba Oríkí

Africa ◽  
1974 ◽  
Vol 44 (4) ◽  
pp. 331-349 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bolanle Awe
Keyword(s):  
Historical Data ◽  
Historical Research ◽  
Oral Traditions ◽  
Oral Literature ◽  
Historical Reconstruction ◽  
Historical Knowledge ◽  
General Acceptance ◽  
Rich Variety ◽  
History Of ◽  
Opening Paragraph

Opening ParagraphThe importance of oral traditions in the reconstruction of the history of non-literate peoples has virtually ceased to be a matter for debate and is now generally acknowledged. Indeed, within the last few years, historical research, based on such traditions has made possible histories of many societies in Africa. But in spite of this general acceptance, the diversity of oral traditions has not been so fully recognized as to make possible the analysis of each type as historical data. In this regard, the history of the Yoruba provides a good example. Their culture has accumulated around it a rich variety of oral traditions whose study has made significant contributions towards the understanding of their past. For the earlier period of their history, their historians have had to rely mainly on oral traditions; even for the latter period, in spite of the existence of written documents, oral traditions have still proved very useful in giving a balanced view of events. The tendency, however, has been for the historians of the Yoruba people to regard oral traditions as no more than personal recollections and generalized historical knowledge. In the main, they have failed to give cognizance to oral literature; experience elsewhere, however, has shown that a meaningful utilization of oral traditions in historical reconstruction cannot afford to neglect this third category, which is for historians of non-literate societies what literature is for the cultural and social historians of literate societies. Moreover, the Yoruba themselves treat some forms of oral literature as quasi-historical records.

Two Sociological Outlooks

2016 ◽  
pp. 69-106
Keyword(s):  
Social Structure ◽  
Social Inequality ◽  
Social Mobility ◽  
Capital Accumulation ◽  
Building Blocks ◽  
The Social ◽  
Nature And Nurture ◽  
The Moment ◽  
The Individual

The sociological distinction between ascribed and achieved statuses and the typology of roles attached to them construct “status sets” that form the building blocks of class, social inequality and stratification – the most important components of social structure. Among other topics, this chapter addresses the correspondences between work, salvation, piety and economics, by discussing the complexity of meanings in Islam, and through a discourse on Islamic culture. Both theoretically and empirically, we argue that work and social mobility have advanced by placing emphasis on achieved status rather than ascribed status, as in the Protestant vision. The prevalent assumption is that everybody is born with equal capabilities that can be actualized by individual endeavors. Thus, from the Protestant viewpoint, achieved statuses, and the social roles attached to them to build up the social structure, are more individually than socially based. This statement, that reflects a long debate on the role of nature and nurture, does not mean the authors are underestimating societal resources by an emphasis on psychologism. Attempts are made to avoid both sociologism and psychologism especially where theological foundational concerns are built upon here and beyond. Nonetheless, since creation starts with motivation, there are individuals who are prone to uphold and judge their creations to achieve a status without expert information. That is the moment that societal auditioning in various forms hold individuals' estimation of their creation to the societal standards whether in terms of subjectivity of taste or normative demands of a status. By de-emphasizing ascribed status, the individual's endeavors to gain rewards, material or non-material in this world not only contribute to capital accumulation, or prestige, but also open the avenue for the individual who believes in salvation, or engagement in innovation and scientific experimentation. As functionalists suggest, the expectation of reward, failure, and specialization create social inequality – that is, the qualities such as a degree of religiosity that have nothing to do with the stratification of people. If the degree of religiosity, measured by frequency of attending church or mosque, is able to impact drastically upon societal stratification, then the more stratified societies with large gaps between social classes are able to close them harmoniously.

Panel on South African Oral Traditions

1976 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 5-13
Author(s):  
Mazisi Kunene ◽  
Daniel Kunene ◽  
Kofi Awoonor
Keyword(s):  
South African ◽  
Southern Africa ◽  
Oral Traditions ◽  
Oral Literature ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Subject

The subject of African oral literature is so vast that it would require more than an hour to present it in an understandable way, particularly to people for whom some of its dimensions may be new or completely unknown. Southern African oral literature is even more difficult to handle because there is not one southern African oral literature, there are several. These are divided not by languages, forms, or types, but rather by geography and history. The Sotho-speaking peoples, for instance, include the Kgatlas, the Ngwatos, the Pedis, and various other subgroups. Sotho literature does not necessarily follow the history of the Sotho nation, because there are several Sotho peoples distributed in different areas who are producing their own unique literatures. So in discussing the oral literature of southern Africa, we are actually discussing several literatures created by several peoples. If you happen to know the literature of one Sotho group, you are not necessarily versed in Sotho literature. You are versed only in the Sotho literature of a particular region. This is very important to understand.

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