Bearers Of Tradition Research Articles

What Is ‘Home’? The Meaning and Function of ‘Home’ in Morrison’s Song of Solomon

This paper explores the motif of ‘home’ in Toni Morrison’s novel Song of Solomon. Although home is a prominent and recurrent motif in many of Morrison’s works, this paper focuses explicitly on Song of Solomon. In Song of Solomon ‘home’ is more than a piece of geography. Instead, it is a space that is situated in race, a space where race and racial history matters, albeit in a positive and empowering way for the Black community. Such a home lives in the memories of people, and it is kept alive through the oral songs and stories that are handed down across generations of Black Americans. Home is also a space that provides protection from trauma and helps in the healing of the individual. This healing can take place through reconnection with the root or through a reignited sense of belongingness to the community. The sense of belongingness is strong in home, and that helps individuals within the community to shape a formidable sense of identity and a sense of self. Home is enriched by the presence of ancestors, who are the bearers of tradition and who act as the binding force within the community that pulls everything and everyone together into one coherent structure of relationships. But most importantly, home is what Milkman finds at the end of his journey from Northern to Southern America. In addition, once he finds it, he heals and transforms himself to prepare for a future that is more harmonious with his past.

Mexico’s ethnic culinary heritage and cocineras tradicionales (traditional female cooks)

Cocineras tradicionales—traditional female cooks—are women of Mexican indigenous descent who embody the status of food tradition bearers and the “ethnic” components of Mexican foodways. In the climate of enthusiasm generated by the 2010 nomination of “traditional Mexican cuisine” as Intangible Cultural Heritage by UNESCO, cocineras tradicionales are esteemed social figures and both a driving force and a symbol of Mexico’s current food and tourism policies. This article is an examination of the power relations surrounding the making of this heritage identity. Drawing on fieldwork conducted in Mexico City and the state of Oaxaca among cocineras, heritage agents, and cultural activists, it demonstrates how the economics and politics of culture turn food into a tool and a product, describes the strategies employed by various actors in this realm, and examines the ways in which recognition and material rewards are allocated in the field of food heritage.

Missionary policy of royal Russian power in the Kazakh steppe

The article presents an analysis of the religious policy of the Russian Empire and Orthodox missionary work among the Kazakh population. The Russian Orthodox Church in Kazakhstan considered the Kazakh society as the bearer of the pagan tradition. In order to consolidate the position of the Christian state in their Asian countries, the government bodies of the Russian Empire supported the idea of the missionary propaganda of Orthodoxy among the «foreigners» of the empire and the forced spread of Christianity among the Kazakhs. Thus, the colonial policy of the Russian empire in Kazakhstan was aimed at enforcing Orthodoxy through the prism of reducing the sphere of influence of Islam.Key words: missionary, orthodoxy, Islam, foreigners, baptism

SINGLE-EDGED WEAPONRY OF SCYTHIAN ORIGIN IN TRANSYLVANIA AND GREAT HUNGARIAN PLAIN

In the Scythian time in the territory of the Middle Danube, Transylvanian and the Southern Carpathian regions, the original group of single-edged akinakai is distributed. By the time the Scythians penetrated Carpathian region, a part of the population of Basarabi culture (bearers of the Illyrian tradition of single-edged weaponry) moved to the north, to the South Carpathians and Transylvania. Perhaps it is the circumstance that can explain the appearance of single-edged akianakai with a T-shaped handle of the Nуgrád type in the foothills of the Southern Carpathians and the Apuseni Mountains in the south-west of Transylvania. The basis for the Nуgrád akinakai, apparently, was the akinakai of the Shumeyko type (or Piliny type according to A. Vulpe), which spread at the turn of the Early and Middle Scythian periods. This is indicated by the features of Nуgrád akinakai, characteristic of the Shumeyko type like a narrow elongated blade (often triangular), a massive kidney-shaped crosshair, a two-part handle and decoration with its transverse notches, a narrow elongated rhombic pommel. Like Shumeyko akinakai, the single-edged swords of the Nуgrád type appear at the turn of the 7th—6th centuries BC and exist until the end of the 6th century. At the same time, the bulk of the complexes with akinakai of the Nуgrád type belong to the second half or even the end of the 6th century BC.

Gender, new creativity and Carnatic music in London

ABSTRACTThis article examines creative projects amongst second-generation, British Tamil diasporic female musicians (focused on Sri Lankan examples) located within London’s Carnatic music scene. Several scholars have suggested that the twentieth-century Indian nationalist project constructed ideals of femininity that positioned women as bearers of tradition during colonial rule to uphold the inner core of Indian culture [Bakrania 2013; Chatterjee 1989], and which were also reflected in the restricted performance and creativity of Carnatic music for female musicians [Subramanian 2006; Weidman 2003]. This article focuses on second-generation musicians, who combine their Carnatic background and ‘South Indian’ sound with other everyday sounds in Britain. Their creative projects shift from an aesthetic that was responsive to colonialism in India to highlight female creativity and hybridity in decolonising processes. This article presents examples of how cultural expectations of women as bearers of tradition are decentred, repositioning them as creative agents in a transnational diaspora.

Кельты сейминско-турбинского типа из Синьцзяна (материалы к учебному курсу «Археология Сибири эпохи бронзы»)

Purpose. Some objects having the same form as Seima-Turbino bronze artifacts and found on the territory of China were first identified in this way and put into scientific circulation by S. V. Kiselev. The researcher worked with the archaeological collections of the Bronze Age in a number of Chinese museums in the middle of the last century. At present, the number of such artifacts is constantly increasing. The set of spearheads, solid daggers, scepters and rods was expanded with several bronze celts originating from Xinjiang. Similar products are widespread in the southern regions of the West Siberian Plain. There are researchers who attribute some artifacts from this set to Seima-Turbino bronzes. Finds of bronze artifacts resembling Seima-Turbino type in measurements and proportions discovered in the Xinjiang area and the adjacent regions of Central Asia allow us to consider these territories as the areas of distribution of this phenomenon. Since these materials are not readily available for European researchers but their significance for understanding the Seima-Turbino phenomenon is very high, it seems reasonable to introduce such items to a wide range of specialists. Results. At present, about ten bronze celts from the territory of Xinjiang are known to the author as associated with the Seima-Turbino community. Intense archaeological research in Xinjiang has resulted in a whole series of extremely interesting archaeological discoveries including single finds which are now scattered in numerous museums in the region. There is no doubt that due to active excavation studies in Xinjiang the number of celts that are close in appearance to classic examples of the Seima-Turbino type will only increase. Conclusion. In this paper, we describe several of the Seima-Turbino artifacts from Xinjiang available to us and prove the existence of relations between the region of Xinjiang and more northern territories of the Asian continent, in particular Siberia, during the Bronze Age. The main destination taken by the bearers of Seima-Turbino tradition seems to spread to the north along the Irtysh River. The classic types of Seima-Turbino bronze artifacts found all over the Irtysh region indicate that when they reached the steppes and forest-steppes of Western Siberia, Seima-Turbino population occupied this area and adapted to the local conditions and autochthonous cultures of the Bronze Age, such as Odino and Krotovo. Then, for some reason, they moved to the west and east in a fan-like dispersion, leaving archaeological sites and some objects of Seima-Turbino type on their way. The materials presented in this article expand our understanding of the essence of the historical and cultural processes in Central and part of North Asia in the Bronze Age and can be widely used for educational purposes in universities, as it is done at Novosibirsk State University as part of the course “Archaeology of Siberia in the Bronze Age”.

The Monasteries Founded by the Thirteen Syrian Fathers in Iberia

A new step in the history of Christian monasticism in eastern Georgia is associated with thirteen Syrian monks, led by John, who came to Iberia (K‘art‘li) in the mid-sixth century C.E. They were the bearers of a Syrian tradition that implied the combination of an heroic ascetic endeavor and an apostolic mission. They came as spiritual heirs of St. Nino, a Cappadocian virgin who converted Georgia to Christianity in the beginning of the fourth century. Their vitae were first composed by a certain hagiographer named John-Martyrius, but this work does not survive. In the tenth century, the head of the Georgian Church and the distinguished ecclesiastical writer Arsenius II (955–980) depicted their lives and deeds based on different oral and written sources. Later, other unknown authors also wrote additional hagiographical works about these Syrian ascetics. At the beginning of their ascetic and ecclesiastical careers, the thirteen Syrian monks settled on Zedazeni mountain with their spiritual supervisor, John. John later sent them to different corners of the Iberian kingdom in opposition to paganism and Zoroastrianism. They founded monasteries and became influential religious leaders during the second half of the sixth century. Through their vitae, composed by Arsenius and other unknown authors, it is possible to trace the process of transforming the small ascetic communities established by Syrian monks into great feudal organizations. These monasteries had an important impact on the Georgian social and cultural landscape during the Middle Ages.

Chronological timeframes of cultural changes in the Dnepr-Dvina region (7th to 3rd millennium BC)

Since the 1960s, more than 250 radiocarbon dates have been obtained for materials in the Upper Western Dvina area, which cover a timeframe from the 7th to the 1st millennium BC. Ra­diocarbon dates for materials of the Dnepr-Dvina area date the appearance and decline of various cultural traditions – from the formation of the most ancient pottery among hunter-gatherer com­munities until the appearance of the first stock-breeders in the forest zone, the bearers of cultural traditions of the Corded Ware culture. Dates for materials from the Upper Dvina area show both the existence of hiatuses between some cultural-chronological groups coinciding with some sig­nificant climatic and environmental changes, and the quasi (?) co-existence of some of the groups. Could these hiatuses also be traced in material culture, or do they appear because of a lack of data?

Editor's Column

Editor's Column John Zemke With this issue Oral Tradition returns to its customary miscellany format, offering half a dozen essays that examine as many strands in humanity's complex of verbal traditions: a previously overlooked theme in Old Germanic poetry; a pictorial system for representing narratives devised by the Naxi dongba in Southwestern China that conjugates the oral and the literary in the same vehicle; an illustration of contemporary shamanistic augury and communication with the dead practiced by women from the Vlach minority community in Eastern Serbia; an account of genre classification schemes for Trans-Atlantic Gaelic song traditions; and, finally, the debut in the pages of Oral Tradition of "lexomics," an analytic tool that is brought to bear on a passage of Beowulf to suggest that its antecedents belong to a highly-formulaic unwritten source. First up, we feature an essay from Paul Battles and Charles D. Wright that identifies "The Scop's Repertoire" as an Old English traditional theme, one that associates verse-making with three motifs: copiousness, orality, and antiquity. Close analogues in Old Saxon, Old and Middle High German, and Old Norse poetry suggest that "The Scop's Repertoire" theme originates in an oral Germanic tradition of versification. Thus, the theme sheds light on the myth of the oral poet, depicted either as divinely inspired or bearer of tradition. Douglas Poupard's essay examines the orality of ritual texts written in the Naxi dongba script in southwest China. Historically the inherent orality of these texts was largely overlooked by scholars who instead conceived of them as visual "hieroglyphics." Here, the author makes the case that the Naxi texts represent an intermediary stage between the "oral" and the "written," and calls into question the reality of any sort of stark divide between orality and literacy, that is, the so-called Great Divide theory. Maria Vivod reports on her fieldwork among the fairy-seers of Southeastern Europe, usually women, who are able to communicate with the invisible realm of the fairies. The fairy-seers sometimes fall into trance-like states to establish communication with the fairies. During the trance, the fairy-seers can prophesy future events and bear messages to the living from their deceased relatives. The author's essay relates case studies of two such women belonging to the Vlach community of Eastern Serbia. The essay by Virginia Blankenhorn illustrates the importance of songs and singing in traditional Gaelic society. Revisiting earlier attempts to classify Gaelic song genres, she examines whether or not constructing such typologies remains a worthwhile scientific objective. Finally, the author characterizes the place and role yjsy singing occupies in contemporary Gaelic, particularly in the light of the contextual and aesthetic changes shaping Gaelic song performances in the current commercially-driven "world music" environment. Mary Knight offers a thorough examination of textual features of the Qur'ān that appear to emerge more prominently as a result of hearing the text recited aloud. Such features that may enhance insights that listeners gain during slow or silent readings of the text. Comparison with ancient Greek oral works, such as Homer, and an examination of Classical memory methodologies provide support for the communicative efficacy of some of the oral features identified. In particular, the author analyzes a series of linguistic devices regarding structure, meaning, diction, syntax, and sound. Drout and Smith deploy new "lexomic" methods of computer-assisted statistical analysis to identify a concentration of unusual lexical, metrical, grammatical and formulaic features in lines 607-61 of Beowulf, a scene in which Queen Wealhtheow passes the cup of friendship to the assembled warriors. Although the passage contains a number of proper names, the authors demonstrate that it is highly formulaic and adaptable, and conclude that the Beowulf-poet drew on an unwritten, highly traditional source for these lines. This issue of Oral Tradition arrives in virtual space thanks to the combined efforts of a much reduced staff of the Center for Studies in Oral Tradition—Elise Broaddus, Katy Chenoweth, managing editor, and Evelyn Yamoah. Mark Jarvis, who transforms the edited essays into electronic files available around the world, continues to excel in his new-old role of indispensable consultant. Finally, as is my custom, I recognize...

The Role of Hindu Women in Preserving Intangible Cultural Heritage in Mauritius

The Role of Hindu Women in Preserving Intangible Cultural Heritage in Mauritius Mrs Rashila Vigneshwari Ramchurn Abstract This paper elucidates the depth of Hindu women‟s contribution in preserving intangible cultural heritage in Mauritius. Intangible cultural heritage means the practices, expressions, knowledge, skills, instruments, objects, arte facts and cultural spaces which are recognised by communities, groups and individuals. Globalisation has changed lifestyle and causing threat to intangible cultural heritage. This is an ethnographical research where participants observation, interviewing by engaging in daily life of people and recording life histories methods have been done within a period of one year. Thirty people above sixty years were interviewed both males and females. The interviews were done in creole and then transcribed to English. Oral narratives are still at its infancy in Mauritius and it is worthy to research as there is no academic research done on this topic. Three visits were paid to each participant to get acquainted with them and get their trust. Their ways of living were observed. Secondary data such as newspapers and books have been used. A diary was kept to know moods, special emotions and local expression of language of the respondents. This paper will lay emphasis on women as tradition bearers. It is both a qualitative research Full Text: PDF DOI: 10.15640/jflcc.v6n2a3

MULTICULTURAL EDUCATION AS A MEANS OF SOLVING INTER-CULTURAL RISKS: PRO ET CONTRA

The article researches the essence and content of multicultural pedagogical paradigms common in the world practice. Thus, J. Benx's pedagogical model is understood as a continuous process that requires long-term investments of time and effort, as well as carefully planned actions and monitoring. L. Frazierer's pedagogical concept is aimed at the development of cultural diversity through the introduction of specially designed methodological materials into the educational practices and a special procedure of this material submission. U. Hunter offers multicultural education through the establishment of structural educational priorities, in which the emphasis is shifted towards cultural pluralism and the maintenance of the cultural heritage of disappearing ethnic groups. In the concept of B. Parekh, the content of pedagogical multicultural practices, first of all, is freedom in the study of other cultures, acquainting students with different models of historic knowledge through the use of the entire world cultural heritage. The content of multicultural education for K. Grant is the approval and popularization of an alternative lifestyle for all people on the basis of equality of education and ensuring the availability of knowledge of all cultural diversity. B. Sizemor under multicultural education understands the assimilation of knowledge about various groups and organizations that counteract the oppression and exploitation by studying the realities and ideas which result from their work. S. Nieto considers multicultural education as the pedagogical process aimed at counteracting all forms of discrimination, deepening of interpersonal contacts between pupils and students, spreading the principles of democracy and social justice in the pedagogical process.From the socio-philosophical standpoint, the analysis of the prospects of introducing elements of multicultural pedagogical models into the domestic educational space of the educational institutions as an instrument of tolerance of intercultural relations between Ukraine and Poland is conducted.The problem of the emergence of intercultural contradictions in the context of the existence of the historical memory of separate individuals and the nation as a source of conflict is considered. The priority directions of practical implementation of elements of multicultural pedagogy in the sphere of education, family, church, activity of cultural and educational centers, public associations, mass media with the aim of establishing intercultural dialogue and tolerance of relations between bearers of different cultural traditions are determined.

БИОГРАФИЧЕСКИЕ МАТЕРИАЛЫ О СКАЗИТЕЛЯХ ВЕРХОЯНСКОЙ ТРАДИЦИИ В ЗАПИСЯХ А. А. САВВИНА И ЕГО КОРРЕСПОНДЕНТОВ: ПРИНЦИПЫ ФИКСАЦИИ

The article for the first time examines the biographical materials of the narrators of Verkhoyansk tradition gathered by A. A. Savvin and his correspondents during the Northern expedition of 1939-1941. They come out as non-textual sources when putting down the Yakut epos olonkho. The paper describes the principles used by A. A. Savvin and his correspondents when putting down the biographical materials which are presented as a data base of narrators, personal details and biographical information. A. A. Savvin registered narrators and put down biographical information of the narrators-olonkhosuts famous at that time, and correspondents filled in personal information of oral tradition bearers. It is shown that notations were made according to the system introduced in the “Program and instructions on how to gather the materials on the Yakut oral folklore” published by the Yakut folklorist G. U. Ergis in 1936. The paper also emphasizes an important role of the Russian tradition of folklore studies.

Chronological timeframes of cultural changes in the Dnepr-Dvina region (7th to 3rd millennium BC)

Since the 1960s, more than 250 radiocarbon dates have been obtained for materials in the Upper Western Dvina area, which cover a timeframe from the 7th to the 1st millennium BC. Ra­diocarbon dates for materials of the Dnepr-Dvina area date the appearance and decline of various cultural traditions – from the formation of the most ancient pottery among hunter-gatherer com­munities until the appearance of the first stock-breeders in the forest zone, the bearers of cultural traditions of the Corded Ware culture. Dates for materials from the Upper Dvina area show both the existence of hiatuses between some cultural-chronological groups coinciding with some sig­nificant climatic and environmental changes, and the quasi (?) co-existence of some of the groups. Could these hiatuses also be traced in material culture, or do they appear because of a lack of data?

Between Folk and Lore: Performing, Textualising and (mis)Interpreting the Irish Oral Tradition

Folklore, as a historical and cultural process producing and transmitting beliefs, stories, customs, and practices, has always thrived and evolved in the broader context of history and culture. Consequently, tradition and modernity have long coexisted and influenced one another, in particular in the world of folk narratives, orality and literature, storytellers and writers. Since the nineteenth century, folklorists (a category including a variety of figures) have collected, transcribed and published pieces of oral tradition, thus giving folklore a textual form and nature. However, folk narratives continue to be also a living and performed experience for the tradition bearers, a process giving rise to ever new and different expressions, according to the changing historical, social, cultural, and economic conditions. To be sure, folklore – and folk narrative – needs to be constantly lived and performed to remain something actually pertinent and significant, and not only within the oral and traditional contexts. Interestingly, between the nineteenth and the twentieth centuries, folklore increasingly came to be regarded as and transformed into an inheritance, a valuable, national heritage particularly fitting for those countries, such as Ireland, in search of a strong, national identity. In this light, folklore and folk narratives, beside their routine existence within their original contexts, were consciously “performed” by the official culture, which employed them in politics, education, literature, etc. In the process, it could happen that folk materials were dehistoricised and idealised, “embalmed” according to Máirtin Ó Cadhain, and even trivialised. This situation was turned into a fruitful and significant source of inspiration for the literary parody of Myles na gCopaleen (Flann O’Brien) who, in his Gaelic novel, An Béal Bocht, revealed the funny yet distressing truth of the Irish folklore being misunderstood and betrayed by the Irish themselves.

‘The Disembowelled Horse’ A Place-Name Tale From Gaelic Oral Tradition

The recording of traditional information by the School of Scottish Studies, at least in the Gaelic speaking area, was at its height in the 1960s and 1970s. This was the period when funds for field collection were relatively available, while there were still many native bearers of tradition who were willing to impart important amounts of precious material. Nevertheless, it was becoming increasingly obvious that the Gaelic mainland was losing its native speakers rapidly and that collection there should be a priority. Their dispersed populations, from Kintyre to Sutherland, meant that the costs associated with fieldwork were rising, as these areas lacked the concentrated populations found in the Western Isles. A special effort was called for to overcome the difficulties.The recording of traditional information by the School of Scottish Studies, at least in the Gaelicspeaking area, was at its height in the 1960s and 1970s. This was the period when funds for field collection were relatively available, while there were still many native bearers of tradition who were willing to impart important amounts of precious material. Nevertheless, it was becoming increasingly obvious that the Gaelic mainland was losing its native speakers rapidly and that collection there should be a priority. Their dispersed populations, from Kintyre to Sutherland, meant that the costs associated with fieldwork were rising, as these areas lacked the concentrated populations found in the Western Isles. A special effort was called for to overcome the difficulties.

The Mandaeans’ Religious System: From Mythos to Logos

Mandaeans, an ethno-religious group mostly living in Iraq and Iran, are bearers of a Gnostic tradition based on the scriptures written in Madaic. As a small minority living under the threat of cultural extinction and ethnocide, Mandaeans have developed highly elaborated purification rites as the source of their group identity. The concern for group integrity is well encoded in these rituals that symbolically and practically maintain the boundaries of group identity. In a mutual relation, the rituals and Mandaean world-view comprise a cultural system characteristic of Mandaean religion. However, political instability and wars have led to the emigration of a substantive number of the Mandaeans and the formation of diasporas in Australia, Europe and North America. The Mandaean dispersion is a turning point of the people’s history. It liquefies the boundaries of group identity and puts the Mandaean identity challenge in an unprecedented paradigm. Simultaneously, it is bringing about further development in their religious system in terms of accommodation, rationalization and exegeses. These changes can be summarized as pluralism and secularization in the community, especially in the diasporas and an incipient move from mythos towards logos in the religious system.

Casting Sound: Modality and Poetics in Gabriella Ghermandi's "Regina di fiori e di perle"

This article investigates Gabriella Ghermandi’s novel Regina di fiori e di perle (2007) through two disciplinary perspectives: the first investigates music as a historical and social practice through historical observation of Ghermandi’s characters who reference Ethiopian oral traditions; and the second explores the contemporary dynamics of migration and transnational identity through textual analysis that critiques how storytelling practices are carried into an Italian context. We argue that the novel reflects a dissemination of oral memory across generations and gender and into a postcolonial setting, and that its characters reflect adaptations to institutional and twentieth-century technological change. Crucially, and more specifically, the fate of singing and storytelling in Ghermandi’s fictional world mirrors the author’s experience of moving between orality and recorded and written forms, not as an evolutionary process but as a reciprocal process. Her fictional tradition bearers -- Aron, Yacob, and Mahlet -- embody these malleable modes of transmission, reconfiguring stories for a new generation of Ethiopians and Italians.

Archeological Research at the Bağanalı Bronze Age Burial Site

The article examines results of research conducted at the Bağanalı Bronze Age burial site in the 2015 field season by the Qaratau section of the Scientific-Research Center of Archeology of the Khoja Ahmed Yasawi International Kazakh-Turkish University. New data on Bronze Age cultures of the southern regions of Kazakhstan were obtained. Characteristic features of the burial ritual, of burial format, and of design elements of implements were analyzed. The authors show that the Bağanalı burial site was left by an ancient population that had formed under the influence of bearers of various Andronovo cultural traditions. Ancient interconnections among populations of northern, central, and western Kazakhstan and the area along the Ural River [Priural’ia] can be discerned in this memorial site.

Шедевры устного и нематериального культурного наследия

Currently, participation of objects of a particular country in different global rankings and in the attractions lists is a sym- bol of prestige and importance for state. But such lists play important role in the forming tourist flows. List of Master- pieces of the World Oral and Intangible Cultural Heritage is among them. It is drawn up under the auspices of UNESCO. The Russian Federation is not a participant of the relevant protection convention of this type of heritage. That is why its representation in the List is very low and does not correspond to the role and significance of the country’s culture in the global dimension. But even only two objects from the Intangible Heritage List, which are located in Russia, have significant potential for the forming tourist flows and tourist complexes development on their basis. It is proved by the experience of the involving these objects in tourism. The article describes three formats of transformation the intangible cultural heritage of the Russian Federation in the tour product: 1) a museum establishment; 2) a theme park; 3) the places of heritage existence in the real environment. Three forms of the intangible heritage presentation in the tourism industry are also highlighted. They suggest the possi- bility of visiting and acquaintance of tourists with the environment of existence, intangible heritage landscape, a certain type of culture in which it develops, and familiarity with the famous person – bearer and guardian of tradition. The article also identifies a number of threats for these objects themselves, which may be accompanied by involving of the intangible heritage in the tourism and hospitality industry. As the conclusions, the article proposes a number of urgent measures that are important to ensure the sustainability of tourism development based on places of existence of the intangible cultural heritage in Russia

Fingalian Topographies: Ossian and the Highland Tour, 1760‐1805

AbstractIf Ossian validated the Highland landscape for eighteenth‐century tourists, the landscape, in turn, seemed to authenticate poems whose authenticity never ceased to be doubted; but text and topography alike ran the risk of dissolving into insubstantiality. Many tourists cited ‘local tradition’ in order to embroider existing (or to invent new) Fingalian place‐names. Ranging over a wide variety of eighteenth‐century travel‐writers, this article casts new light on the relations between Ossian, travel‐writing and Highland topography. It concludes by discussing the ‘fieldwork’ tradition of Ossianic tourism after 1800, which sought out local tradition bearers, rather than attempting to authenticate Macpherson's ‘translations’.