Orality and Memory: Processes in Performance: Challenges for Research

In the beginning there was the word…

…and so it remained thereafter…

There are no abstracts for this panel. Whilst the contributors are in no way arguing for the redundancy of the written, all are concerned that their subject matter should itself be embodied in its delivery to the conference. This problematic, ‘or how to’, is in part the focus of the panel itself: how can - should - a panel which attends to the embodied actualities of the spoken, to the immediacy of utterance, give itself over to the formulation of knowledge qua text, seemingly necessitated by conference abstracts and papers? Given the panels focus on orality and embodied modes of memory, we have taken a deliberate step to conduct both our presentations and our pre-conference dealings without recourse to the written word. The panel will concern itself with the notion that there is an embodied knowledge – a corpus – which unfolds in oral discourse to which the written word is not privy directly. It is this knowledge to which the panel will both attend, and in turn enact. The ‘abstracts’, such as they are, consist in the disappeared and unreferable utterances made to and amongst the panel in its convention. As such, they have no existence without audience, and thus will be given fuller and more extended utterance (for those who wish to hear them), as sung, chanted, told, ranted, and related by the panel participants at Bretton Hall.

The contributions to the panel will include discussion of: the word in the institution; historical memory in performance; orality as public event; orality as cultural memory.

The panel contributors recognise that this deferral of the normal procedure of presenting abstracts perhaps seems to suggest a noncommittal approach to both conference and content. To this end, conference participants wanting more information about the content of the various contributions are encouraged to contact the panel convenor by telephone, and speak with him directly. We hope that this opportunity for direct dialogue both acknowledges the need to be open about our aims to the conference, and stays true to the rationale we have set for ourselves.

Panel convenor: Martin Welton (tel. +44 (0)20 7882 7541)

Panel contributors:

Martin Welton

Baz Kershaw

Caoimhe McAvinchey