Hopi Traditional Literature

In this unique study of Hopi discourse, an anthropologist describes the major public forms of Hopi discourse using a Hopi typology. That is, he describes from a Hopi viewpoint the structures of narratives, songs, songpoems, and direct address forms such as oration, prayer, and conversation. In addition to categories like versification, which are comparable to the building blocks of literature in English, he looks at distinctively Hopi genre signatures and evaluative concepts. Not only does he consider the structural characteristics of each genre, but he also relates the genres to contextual and cultural factors. Examples are presented in bilingual format, and musical notation of several Hopi songs is included.

Although the book will be of interest to scholars in linguistics, ethnopoetics, discourse analysis, and performance theory, the author does not assume extensive knowledge of these fields or of the Hopi language on the part of his reader. He includes a pronunciation guide, a technical glossary, and a sketch of Hopi grammar.