Finding the Center the Art of the Zuni Storyteller Amazon Kindle

• Home
• My Books

Open Preview

Run across a Problem?

We'd dearest your help. Let us know what's wrong with this preview of Finding the Middle by Dennis Tedlock.

Thanks for telling u.s.a. nigh the problem.

Friend Reviews

To see what your friends idea of this book, please sign up.

Customs Reviews

 · 48 ratings  · 7 reviews

Outset your review of Finding the Center: The Art of the Zuni Storyteller

Zuni stories translated from actual Zuni performances. However, it is hard to say how much these stories have been reconstructed to fit Western ideologies.... hmm...

Jun 15, 2017 Will Lashley rated information technology really liked it

The twelvemonth after this volume was published I became the late Dennis Tedlock's pupil. Dennis was raised in New United mexican states, son of an archeologist at the academy at that place and he had the quiet & cogitating Southwestern air of an individualist who dressed and walked similar was fix to set out on a long constitutional through the desert. His wife Barbara and Dennis were charming and not a little exotic: Both of them had already begun studying to become shamans, a real departure in those days from the "objective" s The twelvemonth afterward this book was published I became the late Dennis Tedlock'due south student. Dennis was raised in New Mexico, son of an archeologist at the university there and he had the quiet & cogitating Southwestern air of an individualist who dressed and walked like was set to set out on a long ramble through the desert. His wife Barbara and Dennis were charming and not a piffling exotic: Both of them had already begun studying to become shamans, a existent departure in those days from the "objective" scientific investigation of civilization that defined the academic bailiwick. They also had me over for some great dinner parties.

Dennis' philosophical bent was epistemological interrogation twinned with what I've since come up to call somatic knowledge, a reliance on the rightness and receptiveness of bodily sensation. His offset book took on the chore of enlarging on the "text" of storytelling with diacritical typographic styles - using line breaks, capitalisation, phonetic suggestion and other methods to render the stories he translated from his Zuni storytelling "informants" and to capture some of the subtlety and dynamism of their oral performances. The result on the page was akin to physical poesy but the intent was to ground the stories in the "at present" of their telling. In those years, Tedlock and the poet Jerome Rothenberg were melding the report of anthropology, translation and oral poetry into what they helped to proper name "ethnopoetics", especially through Tedlock's founding of the periodical Alcheringa.

Tedlock went on to become all-time known as a Mayanist and as a founder of dialogic anthropology, an academic sub-field of study borrowing from the linguistic and critical theories of the Russian literary critic Mikhail Bakhtin and his book of articles "The Dialogic Imagination" (1981). Dialogic anthropology stresses the contextual exchanges between the informant and the anthropologist as a "conversational" run into where cultural keys are revealed in the form of negotiating an 'in-between' or new integrated context or 'cultural reality'.

The kernels of all that are here in this book…and some practiced yarns, too. It is a "skillful read" in add-on to being a thought provoking precursor to so many other books. Dennis Tedlock died June 3rd, 2016. I highly recommend any number of his books, and those of his yet lively widow, Barbara Tedlock, who has written extensively on the cross cultural interpretation of dreams and her shamanic initiation from a feminine perspective. See specially her volume on the female roots of shamanism, "The Woman in a Shaman'due south Body."

...more

I'm wondering what was lost when these oral histories were translated AND written down. What verbal facial expression, tones of vox, move, intended audiences, time of day/calendar month etc. (other factors). where considered when saying these oral histories in the original language. Dr. Tedlock goes into some of these factors but a function of me feels sorrow. The piece of work feels incomplete. The missing parts are what remains in the original linguistic communication and the original oral practice, not on paper. There needs I'm wondering what was lost when these oral histories were translated AND written down. What exact facial expression, tones of vocalisation, movement, intended audiences, time of 24-hour interval/month etc. (other factors). where considered when maxim these oral histories in the original linguistic communication. Dr. Tedlock goes into some of these factors but a function of me feels sorrow. The work feels incomplete. The missing parts are what remains in the original linguistic communication and the original oral practice, not on paper. There needs to be other ways to keep these histories alive while remaining true to the original meaning and intent of the history.

Like having these narratives told past the zuni indians themselves in their own format. It's tricky.

...more than

This book beautifully combines poetry and folk narrative.
The book was meant for adult readers, only several of the stories could exist used by teachers for a multi-cultural lesson taught in poetic renderings.

April 09, 2009 Liz rated it actually liked it

This was a fantastic telling of some Zuni folktales and the Zuni cosmos myth cycle. Though I haven't witnessed any Zuni storytelling, the style seemed authentic to the oral tradition. Captivating, and definitely worth reading. This was a fantastic telling of some Zuni folktales and the Zuni cosmos myth cycle. Though I haven't witnessed whatsoever Zuni storytelling, the style seemed authentic to the oral tradition. Captivating, and definitely worth reading. ...more than

Jan 06, 2012 Keara rated it it was ok

I was a student of Dennis Tedlock for two semesters, interesting human being, stories are extremely authentic.

Mar 31, 2009 John Solder rated it it was amazing

Longer stories but full of color, mystery, and insight. provides a proficient sympathise of story telling style of the Southwestern Indians.

Dennis Ernest Tedlock was the McNulty Professor of English and Inquiry Professor of Anthropology at the State University of New York at Buffalo. He received his Ph.D. in 1968 from Tulane University.

News & Interviews

Demand another excuse to treat yourself to a new book this week? We've got you covered with the buzziest new releases of the day. To create our...

Welcome dorsum. Only a moment while we sign yous in to your Goodreads account.

Share this post