Synopses & Reviews
Synopsis
This analysis of the literary qualities of orally performed art is based on a body of entertaining Texan narratives collected by the author over the last fifteen years. The author's main emphasis is on the act of storytelling, not just the text. He looks at the interrelationships between the narrated events, the narrative texts and the situations in which they are narrated.
Synopsis
An analysis of Texan oral narratives that focuses on the significance of their social context. Although the tales are all from Texas, they are considered representative of oral storytelling traditions in their relationships between story, performance and event.
Table of Contents
Acknowledgments; Note on the texts; 1. Introduction: story, performance, and event; 2. 'Any man who keeps more'n one hound'll lie to you': a contextual study of expressive lying; 3. 'We was always pullin' jokes': the management of point of view in personal experience narratives; 4. 'Hell, yes, but not that young!': reported speech as comic corrective; 5. 'I go into more detail now, to be sure': narrative variation and the shifting contexts of traditional storytelling; 6. Conclusion; References; Index.