Colloquium | "When All the Ancestors Spoke Poetry: An Analysis of the Sacred Narratives of the Rotenese and Their Significance" (24 June 2013)
ROOM CHANGED! NEW ROOM: 1023 (KG I) ---------------- This colloquium will be presented by Prof. James J. Fox from the Crawford School of Public Policy in Australia National University's College of Asia & the Pacific. James Fox is a Professor of Resource Management in the Asia-Pacific Program (RMAP) and the Director of the ANU Korea Institute.
Colloquium Abstract:
In 2011, at a gathering of some of the most senior master chanters from the island of Rote, James Fox was given permission to reveal in full the most sacred narratives of the Rotenese. All of these origin narratives are composed in strict canonical parallelism. Many of them were gathered as early as 1965 and have so far only been cited in part. Although recited as individual chants relating to specific ritual performances, these narratives link to one another to form an epic cycle that recounts the encounter and engagement of the Lords of the Sun and Moon with the Lords of the Ocean and Sea. This presentation will 1) give a glimpse of the origin narratives of the domain of Termanu on Rote (and reveal some of the secrets of these narratives); 2) describe an on-going seven-year ‘Master Poets’ project for the study of the parallel compositions of the Rotenese and of the Tetun-speakers of west and East Timor; and 3) discuss the theoretical significance of world-wide research on parallelism.
When: 24 June (Monday), 4:00 PM to 6:00 PM
Where: HS 1023 - KGI