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图书馆 | 资料类型 | 排架号 | 子计数 | 书架位置 | 状态 | 图书预约 |
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正在检索... Science | Book | 153.133 R824M, 1995 | 1 | Stacks | 正在检索... 未知 | 正在检索... 不可借阅 |
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摘要
摘要
Long studied by anthropologists, historians, and linguists, oral traditions have provided a wealth of fascinating insights into unique cultural customs that span the history of humankind. In this groundbreaking work, cognitive psychologist David C. Rubin offers for the first time an accessible, comprehensive examination of what such traditions can tell us about the complex inner workings of human memory. Focusing in particular on their three major forms of organization--theme, imagery, and sound pattern--Rubin proposes a model of recall, and uses it to uncover the mechanisms of memory that underlie genres such as counting-out rhymes, ballads, and epics. The book concludes with an engaging discussion of how conversions from oral to written communication modes can predict how cutting-edge computer technologies will affect the conventions of future transmissions. Throughout, Rubin presents the results of important original research as well as new perspectives on classical subjects. Splendidly written and farsighted, Memory in Oral Traditions will be eagerly read by students and researchers in areas as diverse as cognitive psychology, literary studies, classics, and cultural anthropology.
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The beauty of interdisciplinary scholarship is the possibility of novel contributions that enrich both fields. Rubin's merger of cognitive psychology and oral history clarifies and advances knowledge in both areas. The remarkable thing about children's rhymes and ballads is their consistency through multiple transmissions. This phenomenon stands in contrast to the loss of specifics in memory; errors in eyewitness testimony or the reduction to "gist" of memory for stories. The resolution presented here is in the multiple constraints of the material to be remembered. Thus, the remarkable memory for material, though impressive, is not beyond explanation. On the other hand, these constraints are not just meaning and imagery, as emphasized by contemporary cognitive psychology. Limitations imposed by rhyme and rhythm also play a very important role. These constraints can be applied more or less in parallel and account not only for the extensive memory of balladeers and the consistency of generations of children but also for the creativity in the genre of ballads and epics. This simultaneous application of multiple cognitive strategies is an important part of creativity as outlined by D.N. Perkins in The Mind's Best Work (CH, Feb'82). Rubin's book, nevertheless, stands on its own while inviting continued examination of other oral transmissions such as humor and urban legends. Upper-division undergraduate through faculty. P. L. Derks; College of William and Mary
目录
1 Introduction |
2 The Representation of Themes in Memory |
3 Imagery |
4 Sound |
5 Combining Constraints |
6 The Transmission of Oral Traditions |
7 Basic Observations on Remembering |
8 A Theory of Remembering for Oral Traditions |
9 Epic and Formulaic Theory |
10 Counting-out Rhymes |
11 North Carolina Ballads |
12 Discussion |