A World of Others' Words

Drawing on his work in Iceland, Ireland, Scotland, North America, Ghana, and Fiji, linguistic anthropologist and folklorist Richard Bauman presents a series of ethnographic case studies that offer a sparkling look at intertextuality as communicative practice. This book presents a fascinating perspective on intertextuality: the idea that written and spoken texts speak to one another, e.g. through genre or allusions; presents a series of ethnographic case studies to illustrate the topic; and, draws on a broad range of oral performances and literary records from across the world. The author's introduction sets a framework for the analysis of genre, perform and intertextuality. It also shows how performers blend genres, e.g., telling stories about riddles or legends about magical verses, or constructing sales pitches.