Documenting and Archiving Napo Quichua Verbal Art [ISO 639 quw]

Florida State University, Tallahassee FL

Investigators

Abstract

Languages fall silent in piecemeal fashion: Often, traditional stories, poetry and other verbal arts die off before the language itself does. Napo Quichua is one of three Amazonian dialects of Ecuadorian Quichua and is close to being endangered. Unlike most dialects of Quichua, which are geographically located in Andean regions, Napo Quichua is spoken by Native Amazonians, and Napo Quichua speakers have developed their own oral traditions that are rich in linguistic, poetic, and cultural features. These oral traditions are scientifically valuable because they provide materials to investigate the complex relations that develop between language and culture, and the role of artistic speech in human language systems. With support from the National Science Foundation, Dr. Michael A. Uzendoski will record instances of the narratives and songs of ten known storytellers in the region. The stories will be translated, annotated and archived in an established online database and local schools so that professional scholars, community members, and students alike will have easy access. The project also involves the publication of a Napo Quichua mythology reader that will feature the stories and songs. The project will preserve a rich oral tradition that will otherwise become lost very soon. The electronic publication and documentation of Napo Quichua oral literature will have a positive effect on native efforts of language and cultural revitalization, especially since local schools lack materials deriving from their own oral traditions. Community members, educators, and students will also be given a chance to participate in the project, which may stimulate greater interest in the language and reinforce its use in the community. The publication of the mythology reader will also provide greater visibility to issues related to language endangerment, both in Ecuador and internationally, and draw attention to the linkage between oral traditions and language health.