Transmission Difficulties: Franz Boas and Tsimshian Mythology - Softcover

9780889224308: Transmission Difficulties: Franz Boas and Tsimshian Mythology
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It has been well known since Marius Barbeau’s review of the first edition of Franz Boas’s Tsimshian Mythology in 1917, that something was seriously amiss with Boas’s alleged translations” of the stories gathered by his chief Tsimshian informant, Henry Tate. But what, exactly, was it that Boas was doing with Tate’s stories? It is this question that Ralph Maud sets out to address in Transmission Difficulties.

Boas’s original misrepresentations of the more than 2,000 pages of material he received from Henry Tate have been denied by the ethnographic establishment for more than eighty years. His distortion of Tate’s stories has been rationalized, to date, as cultural relativism” any loss of Tate’s original material in this ethnographic collaboration” between Native informant and European scientist was unavoidable,” due to the presumably equal cultural differences” between them. This, Maud argues convincingly, is not the case at all. The fact that Boas paid Tate for his stories by the page, and furthermore instructed Tate specifically on what stories, and even on what kinds of stories he was to gather and submit, created a profoundly unequal relationship between these two men, which resulted in an inevitable and pre-determined authentication” of the Native material by the European ethnographer.

Transmission Difficulties unfolds like a gripping, real-life mystery story. It leaves the reader with a whole new vision of what the relation between European colonials and Aboriginal inhabitants in the Americas might have been, and still might be.

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About the Author:
Ralph Maud
Ralph Maud is the author of Charles Olson Reading (1996) and the editor of The Selected Letters of Charles Olson (2000). He has edited much of Dylan Thomas’s work, including The Notebook Poems 1930 1934 and The Broadcasts, and is co-editor, with Walford Davies, of Dylan Thomas: The Collected Poems, 1934 1953 and Under Milk Wood. Maud is also the editor of The Salish People: Volumes I, II, III & IV by pioneer ethnographer Charles Hill-Tout. In addition, he has done extensive work on the translation collaboration between Henry W. Tate and Franz Boas, including the book Transmission Difficulties: Franz Boas and Tsimshian Mythology.

Review:
"Ralph Maud's book provides a valid enough critique of inadequate methodology and demonstrates a sincere will to redeem work begun by Boas. Maud certainly presents his own editing work with modesty, and—most importantly—invites others to join in an overdue discovery of Henry Tate." – David Brundage, Canadian Literature

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  • PublisherTalonbooks
  • Publication date2000
  • ISBN 10 0889224307
  • ISBN 13 9780889224308
  • BindingPaperback
  • Edition number1
  • Number of pages176

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Book Description Paperback. Condition: new. Paperback. It has been well known since Marius Barbeaus review of the first edition of Franz Boass Tsimshian Mythology in 1917, that something was seriously amiss with Boass alleged translations of the stories gathered by his chief Tsimshian informant, Henry Tate. But what, exactly, was it that Boas was doing with Tates stories? It is this question that Ralph Maud sets out to address in Transmission Difficulties.Boass original misrepresentations of the more than 2,000 pages of material he received from Henry Tate have been denied by the ethnographic establishment for more than eighty years. His distortion of Tates stories has been rationalized, to date, as cultural relativismany loss of Tates original material in this ethnographic collaboration between Native informant and European scientist was unavoidable, due to the presumably equal cultural differences between them. This, Maud argues convincingly, is not the case at all. The fact that Boas paid Tate for his stories by the page, and furthermore instructed Tate specifically on what stories, and even on what kinds of stories he was to gather and submit, created a profoundly unequal relationship between these two men, which resulted in an inevitable and pre-determined authentication of the Native material by the European ethnographer.Transmission Difficulties unfolds like a gripping, real-life mystery story. It leaves the reader with a whole new vision of what the relation between European colonials and Aboriginal inhabitants in the Americas might have been, and still might be. Ralph Maud delves into the mystery of Boass alleged "translations of stories gathered by his chief Tsimshian informant, Henry Tate. Shipping may be from our UK warehouse or from our Australian or US warehouses, depending on stock availability. Seller Inventory # 9780889224308

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