Born to Write: Discovery and Construction of Self in the Identity Stories of Poets and Writers

The explorative study hereby presented is based on in-depth interviews with 16 renowned Israeli writers of prose and poetry. The aim of the study is to examine the identity-stories of these masters of the written word. By the term "identity-story", we relate to the self-reflective or "arspoetic" sides of the life stories our interviewees presented, the hows, whens and whys which had brought them to realize their identities as their cultures' authorized authors or poets. Thematic analysis of these stories, conducted in the spirit of the Schutzian Phenomenological-Interpretive approach, reveals an interesting interplay of two seemingly contradictory core meta-themes - identity-creation and identity-discovery. The present paper is focused on the identity-discovery meta-theme. Unlike the identitycreation meta-theme, which illustrates active, deliberate and conscious processes of identity construction within the social world, the identitydiscovery meta-theme is based on narratives that detect the belief in the feasibility of a transcendental revelation of a given identity, whose roots lies beyond the ties of time and place.

The Power of the Written Word in Manichaeism

The prominent role books and the act of writing played in the life of the Manichaean Church distinguishes Manichaeism even among other “religions of the book.” This article tackles the question whether the primacy of writing was established by Mani himself or resulted from a development that occurred within the first generations of Mani’s followers. The analysis of the extant fragments of Mani’s own works and early Manichaean texts such as the work of Baraies preserved in the Cologne Mani Codex and the Kephalaia indicate that Mani’s superiority as a writing prophet and the ritual meaning of writing most likely were not part of Mani’s original teaching. Rather, they resulted from the efforts of Manichaean theologians who sought to demonstrate the exceptional status of Mani’s revelation and prophetic mission based on his writings. The Prologue to the Kephalaia of the Teacher played a significant role in this development and contributed extensively to the ritualization of writing in Manichaeism.

‘He States That This is the Most Lovely Building He Has Ever Had the Pleasure of Seeing . . . ’

The travel journal, collecting, and exhibition of objects by museum founder, tea merchant and Member of Parliament Frederick Horniman (1835–1906) in the late nineteenth century demonstrate how material objects exemplify travel writing. Through an examination of objects he collected and later interpreted at the Horniman Free Museum, this article presents a case study of how collecting activities mirror and serve as a form of travel writing. This article presents a new model for understanding, beyond the written word, how travelers can capture the experience of a foreign expedition through the collecting and interpretation of objects.

Issues of Dance Notation: Domenico da Piacenza's Dance Writing in Fifteenth-Century Italy

<p>Dance is an art form that is traditionally taught through physical demonstration. Choreography is forgotten if it is not practised repetitively, as dancers must rely on physical memory without the help of a written score to remind them of the steps. So many great works have been lost over time as choreographers have neglected to preserve their routines in written form. To prevent this, multiple notation systems have been created but none of them have ever become as popular or standardised as music notation. Many of these systems involve symbols that can only be understood by those who have studied the system in depth and are therefore inaccessible to the everyday dancer or choreographer. The origins of dance notation in Western culture come from fifteenth-century Italy. Dance masters who served at the many courts of the country recognised the need for dance to be intellectually understood as well as performed. The popularity of manuals as a way to discuss art, music, philosophy and many other subjects that formed the education of the elite during the Renaissance led to the writing of dance manuals. Domenico da Piacenza (c.1400-1476) was the first to do this, and his treatise De arte saltandi et choreas ducendi (c.1455) is an eloquently written model text for all dance manuals that followed. Domenico does not notate his dances with symbols, but rather uses word descriptions to explain his choreography. His manual includes sixteen chapters which discuss the qualities one should aspire to achieve when dancing, the nature of the different misure (speeds) of the music, and how one should dance to each of these. This is followed by descriptions of eighteen of Domenico’s balli accompanied with his self-composed music, and five bassadanze. By examining closely three of Domenico’s balli, and attempting to reconstruct them, this thesis engages with issues regarding the preservation of dance and how effective the use of the written word is for doing so. Although there are several flaws in Domenico’s system, the idea of using the written word to notate dance still seems the most practical to date. The method created by Domenico in fifteenth-century Italy for his court dances is still the most common way for modern dance forms such as ballet and ballroom to be notated, transmitted to others and learned by dancers today.</p>

Tau mai e Kapiti te whare wananga o ia, o te nui, o te wehi, o te toa: Reclaiming early Raukawa-Toarangatira writing from Otaki

<p>Maori writing in the nineteenth-century was prolific. Maori writers worked in multiple genres including, but not limited to biography, correspondence, historical narrative, political response, memoir and song composition. Much of this immense body of work is currently housed in libraries and other archival institutions around Aotearoa New Zealand. An indeterminate amount is held in private ownership. Of the small number of these manuscripts which have been published, many have gone on to become key texts for studying Maori language, customs, practices, beliefs, and history. Responding to the calls of Australian and American Indian literary studies for researchers to engage both critically and creatively with Indigenous literatures, this thesis will focus on specific nineteenth-century Maori literary works in order to explore the nature and stakes of early Maori writing. The impact of European contact which informed many nineteenth-century Indigenous experiences will be interrogated as will the substantial manuscript and archival records that assist us, the descendants of these writers, in reclaiming our written heritage. Specifically, this thesis will explore a small selection of the written legacies of Tamihana Te Rauparaha, Matene Te Whiwhi and Rakapa Kahoki. These tupuna wrote letters, petitions and historical texts, acted as scribes and composed waiata. As well as sharing close Ngati Raukawa and Ngati Toarangatira whakapapa and moving in similar social and political circles, these tupuna were based in Otaki where they were actively involved in issues of local, tribal and national significance. Focusing this thesis on the specific place of Otaki provides an opportunity to reflect on the nature and significance of Maori writing more broadly and also anchors this thesis in ancestral space. An academic revisioning of these ancestors‘ written work is long overdue and is especially timely while Indigenous peoples continue to be engaged in projects of intellectual recovery and reclamation. This thesis presents readings of several manuscripts that were produced by Tamihana Te Rauparaha and Matene Te Whiwhi as well as two waiata texts composed by Rakapa Kahoki relatively early on in our encounters with tauiwi and the written word. Where many historically based studies have made use of these manuscripts as source documents, this research instead offers a literary exploration of the manuscripts which sees the manuscripts themselves as the main point of reference. This thesis essentially draws attention to the ‗written-ness‘ of the texts. It is a literary study which highlights the literary skills that our ancestors employed in their written work and which have tended to be overlooked in the scholarship. This study is also influenced by developments in a number of academic fields including but not limited to history, linguistics, Pacific studies, comparative studies and post-colonial studies. It is moreover, a Maori studies thesis which centres a Maori world view and the concerns of Maori people and communities. Ultimately, it is anticipated that this thesis will forge new pathways into the study of Maori literatures, and that these pathways will clear some much needed intellectual space in which a deeper analysis of the writing of tupuna Maori can be articulated. Furthermore, beyond its focus on the literature of Ngati Raukawa and Ngati Toarangatira, this thesis extends the scholarship on Maori writing and literatures, Maori historical studies and Maori intellectual history and in this way speaks to a contemporary Indigenous intellectual agenda.</p>

Issues of Dance Notation: Domenico da Piacenza's Dance Writing in Fifteenth-Century Italy

<p>Dance is an art form that is traditionally taught through physical demonstration. Choreography is forgotten if it is not practised repetitively, as dancers must rely on physical memory without the help of a written score to remind them of the steps. So many great works have been lost over time as choreographers have neglected to preserve their routines in written form. To prevent this, multiple notation systems have been created but none of them have ever become as popular or standardised as music notation. Many of these systems involve symbols that can only be understood by those who have studied the system in depth and are therefore inaccessible to the everyday dancer or choreographer. The origins of dance notation in Western culture come from fifteenth-century Italy. Dance masters who served at the many courts of the country recognised the need for dance to be intellectually understood as well as performed. The popularity of manuals as a way to discuss art, music, philosophy and many other subjects that formed the education of the elite during the Renaissance led to the writing of dance manuals. Domenico da Piacenza (c.1400-1476) was the first to do this, and his treatise De arte saltandi et choreas ducendi (c.1455) is an eloquently written model text for all dance manuals that followed. Domenico does not notate his dances with symbols, but rather uses word descriptions to explain his choreography. His manual includes sixteen chapters which discuss the qualities one should aspire to achieve when dancing, the nature of the different misure (speeds) of the music, and how one should dance to each of these. This is followed by descriptions of eighteen of Domenico’s balli accompanied with his self-composed music, and five bassadanze. By examining closely three of Domenico’s balli, and attempting to reconstruct them, this thesis engages with issues regarding the preservation of dance and how effective the use of the written word is for doing so. Although there are several flaws in Domenico’s system, the idea of using the written word to notate dance still seems the most practical to date. The method created by Domenico in fifteenth-century Italy for his court dances is still the most common way for modern dance forms such as ballet and ballroom to be notated, transmitted to others and learned by dancers today.</p>

Tau mai e Kapiti te whare wananga o ia, o te nui, o te wehi, o te toa: Reclaiming early Raukawa-Toarangatira writing from Otaki

<p>Maori writing in the nineteenth-century was prolific. Maori writers worked in multiple genres including, but not limited to biography, correspondence, historical narrative, political response, memoir and song composition. Much of this immense body of work is currently housed in libraries and other archival institutions around Aotearoa New Zealand. An indeterminate amount is held in private ownership. Of the small number of these manuscripts which have been published, many have gone on to become key texts for studying Maori language, customs, practices, beliefs, and history. Responding to the calls of Australian and American Indian literary studies for researchers to engage both critically and creatively with Indigenous literatures, this thesis will focus on specific nineteenth-century Maori literary works in order to explore the nature and stakes of early Maori writing. The impact of European contact which informed many nineteenth-century Indigenous experiences will be interrogated as will the substantial manuscript and archival records that assist us, the descendants of these writers, in reclaiming our written heritage. Specifically, this thesis will explore a small selection of the written legacies of Tamihana Te Rauparaha, Matene Te Whiwhi and Rakapa Kahoki. These tupuna wrote letters, petitions and historical texts, acted as scribes and composed waiata. As well as sharing close Ngati Raukawa and Ngati Toarangatira whakapapa and moving in similar social and political circles, these tupuna were based in Otaki where they were actively involved in issues of local, tribal and national significance. Focusing this thesis on the specific place of Otaki provides an opportunity to reflect on the nature and significance of Maori writing more broadly and also anchors this thesis in ancestral space. An academic revisioning of these ancestors‘ written work is long overdue and is especially timely while Indigenous peoples continue to be engaged in projects of intellectual recovery and reclamation. This thesis presents readings of several manuscripts that were produced by Tamihana Te Rauparaha and Matene Te Whiwhi as well as two waiata texts composed by Rakapa Kahoki relatively early on in our encounters with tauiwi and the written word. Where many historically based studies have made use of these manuscripts as source documents, this research instead offers a literary exploration of the manuscripts which sees the manuscripts themselves as the main point of reference. This thesis essentially draws attention to the ‗written-ness‘ of the texts. It is a literary study which highlights the literary skills that our ancestors employed in their written work and which have tended to be overlooked in the scholarship. This study is also influenced by developments in a number of academic fields including but not limited to history, linguistics, Pacific studies, comparative studies and post-colonial studies. It is moreover, a Maori studies thesis which centres a Maori world view and the concerns of Maori people and communities. Ultimately, it is anticipated that this thesis will forge new pathways into the study of Maori literatures, and that these pathways will clear some much needed intellectual space in which a deeper analysis of the writing of tupuna Maori can be articulated. Furthermore, beyond its focus on the literature of Ngati Raukawa and Ngati Toarangatira, this thesis extends the scholarship on Maori writing and literatures, Maori historical studies and Maori intellectual history and in this way speaks to a contemporary Indigenous intellectual agenda.</p>

Deeds and Words: The Holloway Jingles and the Fight for Female Suffrage

This article explores the importance of the written word of the Holloway Jingles in the fight for female suffrage through the analysis of the Foreword, “There’s a Strange Sort of College” and “L’Envoi.” Firstly, it will focus on the importance of writing as a venting tool for the suffragettes and it will demonstrate the idealization of imprisonment in the collection by comparing it to realistic and autobiographical accounts of life in Holloway Gaol, as well as the relevance of such an idealization in order to strengthen the bonds between the suffragettes both inside and outside of prison. Secondly, it will explore the impact of the collection within the feminist movement relating it to Virginia Woolf’s and Mary Wollstonecraft’s ideas, thus focusing on a wider notion of justice and freedom that was essential for their emancipatory fight.