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Full text release has been delayed at the author's request until August 09, 2026

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Unheard Voices and Alternative Pasts: Deciphering Chronicles of Southwest Yi and Its Layered Ranges of Signification

Shao, Wenyuan
http://orcid.org/0000-0002-6542-5582
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1626803319228135

Abstract Details

2021, Doctor of Philosophy, Ohio State University, East Asian Languages and Literatures.
This dissertation theorizes a fourfold interpretative model through examining a major ethnic minority document from southwest China—Chronicles of Southwest Yi (Xinan Yi zhi, hereafter as The Chronicles). As a key text in understanding Yi written tradition from western Guizhou province, the document is difficult to access due to a decline in the number of native transmitters, the lack of a theoretical toolkit to unlock the content of the text, and prejudice against oral-connected texts written in unfamiliar genres on the part of some scholars. Building upon past Yi scholarship, genre theories, and epic studies, this project offers doable approaches to deciphering what is intended by the multiple generations of tradition-bears: 1) treating the translated volumes as a corpus to study the language thoroughly, 2) connecting the verses with information that can help uninitiated readers appreciate the artistry of the text, 3) taking into account consensuses reached by modern-day scholars to situate the text in its textual network, and 4) keeping track of afterlives and ramifications of traditional lore and voicing opportunities opened up by contemporary media. Besides methodological innovations, the dissertation also testifies The Chronicles as an encyclopedic compendium and reliable cultural-historical records.
Mark Bender (Advisor)
Patricia Sieber (Committee Member)
Dorothy Noyes (Committee Member)
274 p.
Ancient Civilizations; Ancient Languages; Archaeology; Asian Literature; Comparative Literature; Cultural Anthropology; Folklore; Linguistics; Minority and Ethnic Groups; Religion
Yi; Southwest China; Tibeto-Burmese; hermeneutics; genre theory; epic studies; digital ethnography; translation; the lifecycle of tradition; philology of vernacular; fakelore; hidden transcript; verbal dueling; genealogy; ritual sacrifice

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Shao, W. (2021). Unheard Voices and Alternative Pasts: Deciphering Chronicles of Southwest Yi and Its Layered Ranges of Signification [Doctoral dissertation, Ohio State University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1626803319228135

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Shao, Wenyuan. Unheard Voices and Alternative Pasts: Deciphering Chronicles of Southwest Yi and Its Layered Ranges of Signification. 2021. Ohio State University, Doctoral dissertation. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1626803319228135.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Shao, Wenyuan. "Unheard Voices and Alternative Pasts: Deciphering Chronicles of Southwest Yi and Its Layered Ranges of Signification." Doctoral dissertation, Ohio State University, 2021. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1626803319228135

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

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© 2021, all rights reserved.
This open access ETD is published by The Ohio State University and OhioLINK.