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Papers by Lai-Tze Fan

Research paper thumbnail of Moving through the Narrative: Spatial Form Theory and the Space of Electronic Literature

Research paper thumbnail of Formula and “Fixity” in South Slavic Oral Epics: A defense of South Slavic poetic verse against literary accusations of mechanicalism

"As the South Slavic oral epic originated in a primary oral culture – a culture that is unaffecte... more "As the South Slavic oral epic originated in a primary oral culture – a culture that is unaffected by literacy – and as it is composed through repertorial formulas and themes, it may find itself subject to misunderstanding by literary minds, particularly through accusations of mechanical composition. This paper aims to argue that an idea of “fixity,” with regards to the South Slavic oral epic’s formulas and themes, is flawed when one considers the culture from whence it came. I examine the necessity of formulaic repetition in the South Slavic oral culture of the 1930s-1950s, arguing that, without literacy and the possibility of record making, repetition was the only method through which their history and culture could be preserved.

Drawing from Albert Lord’s study of the South Slavic oral epic, this paper establishes that while still existing in a primary oral culture, South Slavic poets interiorize formulas and themes until they are synonymous with reflexive speech. In order to demonstrate this, this paper explores the way in which a South Slavic boy learns to perform. I examine John Miles Foley’s delineation of the South Slavic decameter, which the South Slavic boy must learn as the foundation of all future lines of verse. I also demonstrate the efficiency of this foundation by studying substitution systems in epic verse; the mastery of substitution results in an instantaneous composition of song that is only possible through the interiorization of its elements.

This paper then considers the term homeostasis, which in the case of this verse, refers to the obsolescence of irrelevant cultural matter. Using a case study, I analyze a singer’s substitution of obsolete themes and formulas with ones of then-contemporary relevance, arguing that the formulas easily adapt to change. The South Slavic oral epic is thus not mechanical, but a naturalized art form."

Talks by Lai-Tze Fan

Research paper thumbnail of Narrative versus Database: On Digital Narratives and Storytelling Today

Research paper thumbnail of On the Value of Narratives in a Reflexive Digital Humanities

Research paper thumbnail of The Principle of Juxtaposition in Media Archaeology

Research paper thumbnail of Hactivism in _Tree of Codes_: Practicing Counterculture in ‘Meaningless’ Literature

Research paper thumbnail of Re-Memory and Rhizomatic Texts: The Destruction and Residue of the Humanities

Research paper thumbnail of Digital Cultural Objects and the Superficiality of the Screen

Research paper thumbnail of (Post)human Anxiety: Discourse and the Subject in the Digital Age

Research paper thumbnail of What’s Next for ‘the Text’?: Media Convergence and the Novel

Research paper thumbnail of Convergence Culture and the Dissolution of Media Borders in Post-Print Literature

Research paper thumbnail of Back to the Labyrinth: The Adaptation of Multilinear Narratives from _Pale Fire_ to _House of Leaves_

Research paper thumbnail of Approaching Multimodal Literature Critically and Culturally: Navigation through _The Raw Shark Texts_

Research paper thumbnail of Reading and Writing After New Literacies: The Influence of New Media Semiotics

Research paper thumbnail of In/Visible City: Ethic-Based Ideologies of Urban Space in Washington, D.C.

Research paper thumbnail of Stuttering as Violence: Language, Narratives, and the Reconstruction of Realities in _American Pastoral_

Research paper thumbnail of The Technological Gaze: How Surveillance Becomes Post-Panopticism in the Digital Art Installations of Rafael Lozano-Hemmer

Research paper thumbnail of Connective Action: The Uses and Effects of Interactive Digital Media on the 2011 England Riots

Research paper thumbnail of The Adaptation of Eve: Establishing the Female Hero in the Film Adaptation of _V for Vendetta_

Research paper thumbnail of Meta-Linking: Self-Reflexivity of Reader, Writer, and Digital Medium in Geoff Ryman’s _253_

Research paper thumbnail of Moving through the Narrative: Spatial Form Theory and the Space of Electronic Literature

Research paper thumbnail of Formula and “Fixity” in South Slavic Oral Epics: A defense of South Slavic poetic verse against literary accusations of mechanicalism

"As the South Slavic oral epic originated in a primary oral culture – a culture that is unaffecte... more "As the South Slavic oral epic originated in a primary oral culture – a culture that is unaffected by literacy – and as it is composed through repertorial formulas and themes, it may find itself subject to misunderstanding by literary minds, particularly through accusations of mechanical composition. This paper aims to argue that an idea of “fixity,” with regards to the South Slavic oral epic’s formulas and themes, is flawed when one considers the culture from whence it came. I examine the necessity of formulaic repetition in the South Slavic oral culture of the 1930s-1950s, arguing that, without literacy and the possibility of record making, repetition was the only method through which their history and culture could be preserved.

Drawing from Albert Lord’s study of the South Slavic oral epic, this paper establishes that while still existing in a primary oral culture, South Slavic poets interiorize formulas and themes until they are synonymous with reflexive speech. In order to demonstrate this, this paper explores the way in which a South Slavic boy learns to perform. I examine John Miles Foley’s delineation of the South Slavic decameter, which the South Slavic boy must learn as the foundation of all future lines of verse. I also demonstrate the efficiency of this foundation by studying substitution systems in epic verse; the mastery of substitution results in an instantaneous composition of song that is only possible through the interiorization of its elements.

This paper then considers the term homeostasis, which in the case of this verse, refers to the obsolescence of irrelevant cultural matter. Using a case study, I analyze a singer’s substitution of obsolete themes and formulas with ones of then-contemporary relevance, arguing that the formulas easily adapt to change. The South Slavic oral epic is thus not mechanical, but a naturalized art form."

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