As The Exchange Of Verbal Art: Field Research Shibao Mountain Singing Folklore

The Shibaoshan Song-Fair is one of the biggest folk festivals of the Bai in Jianchuan Prefecture, Yunnan province. It plays a vital role in the daily life of the Bai in this region:the functions of preventing disasters and bringing fortunes, removing evils and praying for rain, promoting social renewing and reproduction of people, and integrating individuals into community. However, the scholarly history of studies over the Song-Fair leaves a considerable blank in answering the basic question-what is the Shibaoshan Song-Fair? Based on this perception, the present dissertation seeks to apply methods from folklore and neighboring disciplines into the case of Song-Fair, and to construct a mode of ethnographic descriptions to interpret folkloristic meanings carried in this typical cultural space. In short, from the perspective of communication, this dissertation theorizes the Shibaoshan Song-Fair as a speech event, gives attention to the process of local people’s linguistic exchanges in its situated contexts, and tries to illustrate its cultural and social functions in the light of "Ethnography of Communication."This dissertation consists of "Introduction," six "Chapters,""Conclusion," and "Appendices." In the part of "Introduction" the author tries to give a basic description to the following:the background, object and methodology of the research, the process of fieldwork, and terminologies. It is in this part that the author renders the hypothesis of the research:in terms of definition of cultural space, to take the Song-Fair as the combination of physical site and cultural expression; in terms of performance and communication, to describe the communicative event and related social factors in an ethnographic way.Chapter one is entitled "Theoretical Dimension of Studies on the Shibaoshan Song-Fair." This chapter introduces the theoretical background of the research, in particular "the linguistic turn" and its influences in the wide range of social sciences and humanities. It points out that the emphasis on "language" is an important direction for all the disciplines related to the study of humankind. As for the discipline of folklore, the performance-centered approach is also a reflection of "the linguistic turn" within the field of folkloristic studies.In chapter two entitled "The Scholarly History of the Shibaoshan Song-Fair," the author tries to review the history of studies on the Song-Fair, and to categorize various historical discourses into two kinds: serious studies and etic introductions. Based on this review, the author presents a frame of reference concerning the study of the Song-Fair for the coming analysis. The title of Chapter three is "Historical and Cultural Connotations of the Shibaoshan Song-Fair." This part defines physical environments of the cultural space-the Shibaoshan area. A thick description of textual records, geographical characteristics, cultures and history of this area, leads us into the rethinking of co-relations of religion, ancient economic development and original folk belief in the formation of the Shibaoshan Song-Fair.Chapter four "Local Knowledge of the Shibaoshan Song-Fair" describes and analyzes the festive features of the Song-Fair as a seasonal ritual. In terms of folk legends, economic system and rhythm of agriculture, this chapter explains the site of the Song-Fair as a sacred setting and its functions as an altar to practice particular ritualized behavior and to unite villagers from discrete places into the same community.In Chapter five-"The Shibaoshan Song-Fair in the Ethnography of Communication"-the author gives detailed explanations to Ethnography of Communication as a mode of-sociolinguistic description. The elaboration in this section covers a wide range of points:the evolutionary trajectory, theoretical concerns, the working model and practical application of the Ethnography of Communication. In this part, with the help of "SPEAKING-MODEL"-the working model initiated by Dell Hymes, the ethnographic analysis of speaking of the Song-Fair also provides an understanding into the process in which the local people uses local language to communicate with each other in a proper and appropriate way.The title of Chapter six is "Folklore Process of the Shibaoshan Song-Fair." It is characteristic of an ethnographic textualization of a real situated performance and a following analysis of Ballads collected in the Song-Fair in2008. By applying the Ethnography of Communication, a theoretical frame of reference has been established, which in a way makes up the historical overlook of studies on speech in the scholarly history of the Shibaoshan Song-Fair.The part of "Conclusion" sums up the study of the present dissertation. In this part, the author also tries to discuss the academic value of the study of the Shibaoshan Song-Fair, in particular its value of reference to the study of the Intangible Cultural Heritage, relevant cultural spaces and reconsideration of the present paradigm of folklore.