Doctoral Dissertation Research: Composing relationships: Extemporaneous Nanti karintaa poetry in Peruvian Amazonia

University Of Texas At Austin, Austin TX

Investigators

Abstract

Under the direction of Dr. Joel Sherzer, Ms. Christine Beier will conduct field research for her doctoral dissertation on performances of the Nanti verbal art form known as karintaa. Karintaa is extemporaneous chanted poetry performed by Nantis in the communities of Montetoni and Marankejari in Peruvian Amazonia. This project will describe karintaa performances within their social, cultural, and historical contexts. It will examine the role that these performances play in shaping relationships among individuals and in shaping Nanti society as an enduring network of relationships. Using a discourse-centered approach, Beier will investigate the features that distinguish karintaa from other Nanti forms of speaking and that make karintaa part of a larger communicative system. Beier's description and analysis of karintaa performances will be based on audio and video recordings that she makes in Montetoni and Marankejari. She will analyze these recordings in close collaboration with Nanti consultants. This research makes three significant contributions to the scientific understanding of human societies. First, it addresses general questions regarding the relationship between language use and social organization. Second, the project will contribute to linguists' and anthropologists' understanding of the social, cultural, and verbal life of a small indigenous group in Amazonia, one of the least known areas of the world. Third, the project will result in new data from a previously unstudied language. With the communities' permission, the original recordings as well as related transcripts and analytical texts will be archived in several places (including www.ailla.org) to ensure their international accessibility to interested scholars, students, the general public, and future generations of Nantis.