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  4. 2014-2015
  5. Anthropology
  6. AT5009: Oral Traditions in the Modern World

AT5009: ORAL TRADITIONS IN THE MODERN WORLD (2014-2015)

Last modified: 28 Jun 2018 10:27


Course Overview

Oral traditions are stereotyped as backward-looking and opposed to modernity. This course looks at how tradition and modernity are intertwined and the operation of oral traditions in various media. Storytelling, oral history, and other forms of folklore are becoming more important with the development of new digital media.

Course Details

Study Type Postgraduate Level 5
Session First Sub Session Credit Points 30 credits (15 ECTS credits)
Campus None. Sustained Study No
Co-ordinators
  • Dr Alexander King

What courses & programmes must have been taken before this course?

None.

What other courses must be taken with this course?

None.

What courses cannot be taken with this course?

None.

Are there a limited number of places available?

No

Course Description

From charter myths and epics to reminiscences and eyewitiness accounts, stories are an integral part of talk and the sociality of everyday life. Oral traditions have a social life situated in the nexus of relationships among persons. The anthropology of oral traditions focuses on historical oral narratives and the interplay between orality and textuality in contemporary social life. Analysis proceeds from the assumption that form and content are intertwined in the production of meaning and that an attention to performance and medium is important to understanding the message. This course will be of interest to anthropology students, as well as to students in linguistics and history.

Further Information & Notes

Students will learn the complex variety and forms of narrative. They will gain an understanding the key theoretical positions of importance in the anthropology of oral traditions. Students will use insights from the literature to analyse critically an original text, either written or an oral form.

Not running 2015/16

Contact Teaching Time

Information on contact teaching time is available from the course guide.

Teaching Breakdown

More Information about Week Numbers


Details, including assessments, may be subject to change until 31 August 2023 for 1st half-session courses and 22 December 2023 for 2nd half-session courses.

Summative Assessments

100% coursework - 6000 word essay

Formative Assessment

There are no assessments for this course.

Feedback

None.

Course Learning Outcomes

None.
 

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