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Tense variation as a performance feature in a Scottish folktale

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  19 February 2009

Dick Leith
Dick Leith
Affiliation:
15 Claremont Road, Leamington Spa, Warks. CV31 3EH, England
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Abstract

Analysis of two versions of a long fairy tale, “The Green Man of Knowledge,” as narrated by the same storyteller on two separate occasions, shows considerable variation in the use of performance features, especially the historic present tense. One narration is in “additive” style, with the historic present as the norm; the other shows a gradual “breakthrough to performance,” with the historic present dominant in certain segments. There are more patterns in the use of this tense, and more factors affecting it, than have hitherto been acknowledged; it may be instructive to see how it co-occurs with other performance features. The discussion raises questions about the usefulness of quantitative analysis, and about issues of meaning, genre, audience, and the individuality of the storyteller. (Folklore; Scots; narratology; genre; rhetoric; qualitative analysis)

Type
Research Article
Information
Language in Society , Volume 24 , Issue 1 , March 1995 , pp. 53 - 77
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1995

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