14 - Correlates of Cree Narrative Performance

Summary

Folklore as a discipline has all too often existed in a vacuum from which texts are abstracted for the edification of outsiders about the cultural context of their performance. Recent collaboration between folklorists and anthropologists, much of which comes under the general rubric of sociolinguistics, has taken an important step toward correcting the limitations of such a perspective. Many students of traditional material have learned to expect and value different versions of the same story told by different individuals or by the same individual at different times depending on the nature of the social occasion. It has become clear that a living folk tradition has a potential for creativity and modification such that the most interesting text may be one which is adapted on the spot to a new audience or a new situation. The feedback between audience and performer may be crucial to the organization of a performance. The folklorist, as a result, can no longer rely solely on a tape recorder in front of an isolated informant, although that individual may be, in other contexts, an authentic performer of his folk tradition. Narrative performance is in essence social activity.

This paper will discuss in detail a single instance of creative performance by an old Cree man recognized by his community as a carrier and performer of traditional Cree cultural material.