- Library Home /
- Search Collections /
- Open Collections /
- Browse Collections /
- UBC Theses and Dissertations /
- Stories are maps, songs are caches and trails : the...
Open Collections
UBC Theses and Dissertations
UBC Theses and Dissertations
Stories are maps, songs are caches and trails : the verbal art of Haayas, Kingagwaaw, Gumsiiwa, Ghandl and Skaay - five master mythtellers from Haida Gwaii Dreher, Gudrum
Abstract
This dissertation is a fragment of a larger -project that explores the works of five major oral mythtellers from Haida Gwaii, whose myths were transcribed in 1900 and 1901 by John Swanton: Haayas of the Hliiyalang Qiighawaay (Isaac Haias), Kingagwaaw of the Ghaw Sttlan Llanagaay (Walter Kingagwo), Gumsiiwa of the Xhiida Xhaaydaghaay (Job Moody), Ghandl of the Qayahl Llaanas (Walter McGregor) and Skaay of the Qquuna Qiighawaay (John Sky). While this larger frame constitutes the overall context, the thesis itself focuses on several myths that in their turn form only a small part of a larger whole, a part that is representative and unique at the same time: Skaay's Qquuna Cycle. The focus of the dissertation thus mirrors the structure of Skaay's work, which consists - to use one of Skaay's central images - of a series of boxes within boxes. The method of investigation is polyphonic, that is, a variety of different voices and discourses - including academic monologues, fictional dialogues, narratives, poems, autobiographical accounts, and various quotations - combine in order to do justice not only to the complexity of the myths but also to their inherent openness that allows a myriad of different readings, each of which depends on the concrete situation in which the myth is read or told (including social, historical and political conditions), the cultural background of the listener / reader and his or her familiarity with Haida culture, the individuality and predispositions of the listener/reader, and much more. What is in the innermost box of the myths, the dissertation concludes, will be something different for each listener/reader. Since the most important voice in the polyphonic choir is that of the mythteller, Skaay in this case, the analyzed myths are quoted in full length in Haida. Most of them are accompanied, for copyright reasons, not by Robert Bringhurst's poetic translations (which are easily accessible in Skaay's Being in Being) but by a modified version of Swanton's translations from 1905.
Item Metadata
Title |
Stories are maps, songs are caches and trails : the verbal art of Haayas, Kingagwaaw, Gumsiiwa, Ghandl and Skaay - five master mythtellers from Haida Gwaii
|
Creator | |
Publisher |
University of British Columbia
|
Date Issued |
2002
|
Description |
This dissertation is a fragment of a larger -project that explores the works of five
major oral mythtellers from Haida Gwaii, whose myths were transcribed in
1900 and 1901 by John Swanton: Haayas of the Hliiyalang Qiighawaay (Isaac
Haias), Kingagwaaw of the Ghaw Sttlan Llanagaay (Walter Kingagwo),
Gumsiiwa of the Xhiida Xhaaydaghaay (Job Moody), Ghandl of the Qayahl
Llaanas (Walter McGregor) and Skaay of the Qquuna Qiighawaay (John Sky).
While this larger frame constitutes the overall context, the thesis itself
focuses on several myths that in their turn form only a small part of a larger
whole, a part that is representative and unique at the same time: Skaay's
Qquuna Cycle. The focus of the dissertation thus mirrors the structure of
Skaay's work, which consists - to use one of Skaay's central images - of a
series of boxes within boxes.
The method of investigation is polyphonic, that is, a variety of different
voices and discourses - including academic monologues, fictional dialogues,
narratives, poems, autobiographical accounts, and various quotations -
combine in order to do justice not only to the complexity of the myths but also
to their inherent openness that allows a myriad of different readings, each of which
depends on the concrete situation in which the myth is read or told (including
social, historical and political conditions), the cultural background of the
listener / reader and his or her familiarity with Haida culture, the individuality
and predispositions of the listener/reader, and much more. What is in the
innermost box of the myths, the dissertation concludes, will be something
different for each listener/reader.
Since the most important voice in the polyphonic choir is that of the
mythteller, Skaay in this case, the analyzed myths are quoted in full length in
Haida. Most of them are accompanied, for copyright reasons, not by Robert
Bringhurst's poetic translations (which are easily accessible in Skaay's Being in
Being) but by a modified version of Swanton's translations from 1905.
|
Extent |
30949062 bytes
|
Genre | |
Type | |
File Format |
application/pdf
|
Language |
eng
|
Date Available |
2009-11-14
|
Provider |
Vancouver : University of British Columbia Library
|
Rights |
For non-commercial purposes only, such as research, private study and education. Additional conditions apply, see Terms of Use https://open.library.ubc.ca/terms_of_use.
|
DOI |
10.14288/1.0091334
|
URI | |
Degree | |
Program | |
Affiliation | |
Degree Grantor |
University of British Columbia
|
Graduation Date |
2003-11
|
Campus | |
Scholarly Level |
Graduate
|
Aggregated Source Repository |
DSpace
|
Item Media
Item Citations and Data
Rights
For non-commercial purposes only, such as research, private study and education. Additional conditions apply, see Terms of Use https://open.library.ubc.ca/terms_of_use.