Week 1-3

Q1. What genres do the following texts belong to, and how do their intended period contexts, purposes, and intended audiences differ?

Voluspa, Volsunga Saga, Beowulf, The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings.

A. The following texts seem to be largely divided into ancient and new literature. Classical literature has Voluspa, Volsunga Saga and Beowulf and modern literature has The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings. To further refine, we can see that Voluspa is a genre of a Mythological poem, as the following references to gods from the poetry illustrate: "Far-famed Thor, the son of Earth, goes north to fight the Snake (l.75-76)". Also, Volsunga Saga is a legendary prose of Iceland's Volsung Family in the 13th Century, and Beowulf is an epic poem with heroic figures: "He thought of his youth on his way to attack the dragon. In the final battle, as the king of the country, Beowulf killed an evil dragon for his people, but at the same time he lost his life." The Hobbits are categorized as children's fantasy novel and there are fantastic aspects and heroes in the story. As children read books, they can distinguish between right and wrong by the image each element represents. Lord of the Rings can be viewed as an epic fantasy novel with a vast stage unlike The Hobbit. Fantasy genres, such as Hobbit and Lord of the Rings, develop the whole plot in different ways, mainly because they depict stories from dereistic worlds. In addition, there is a change of rhetorical figures from past to nowadays, particularly old literature is orally transmitted and has colloquial poetic dictions, while narrative descriptions are more common in new literature.

 

REFERENCE:       

Heaney, S. (Trans). (1999) (Trans). Beowulf: a new translation. London: Penguin

Morris, W. & Magnussun, E. (Trans.). (1888). The Story of the Volsungs (Volsunga Saga). London: Walter Scott Press

Tolkien, J.R.R. (1997; 1937).The Hobbit, London: HarperCollins

Tolkien, J.R.R. (1993;1954).The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers. London, HarperCollins

Q2. What are some possible features of residual (or "secondary") orality preserved in Voluspa, according to the criteria Ong (1982) advances?

A. Ong (1982) says stories over a long time are preserved through memory-device (secondary orality). He mentions the secondary orality is "an orality not antecedent to writing and print, as primary orality is, but consequent on and dependent upon writing and print" (Ong, 1982, 167). From this point of view, it can be said that secondary orality is mainly based on the use of letters and typography. It exists in the form of sound (oral) but does not have primary oral properties. Because, for example, like an anchor reading something from a teleprompter someone has written into, it relies on textual thinking and expression, and a person reads texted documents. In other words, "Voluspa" is a song written by someone who wants to memorize it so that it make easier for him to memorize. It also shows that the poem was composed in pre-literacy era before it was translated into a secondary orality, through a line, such as “Hear my words, you holy gods" and "by Odin's will, I'll speak the ancient lore". Another feature of "voluspa," which can add value in colloquial style, is its historical trace of people's lives centuries ago. People no longer speak in ancient English way, so it represents the language of people who could not be existed today.

REFERENCE:

Ong, W.J. (1982). Orality and Literacy: The Technologizing of the Word. Routledge

 

 

Q6. Identify some recent films, TV shows and/or games which have brought back some of the old gods and heroes from obscurity. What place do the old myths have in the modern world?

A. These days, there are many fantasy genres rooted in ancient myths. This old myth has survived for centuries and is still widespread today, mostly in mass media such as movies, television and comic books. And through this we can learn the background of legendary events, history and historical characters.
One can see that if myths had not existed, neither could movies nor literature exist. Fantastic elements in myths such as monsters, dragons, and heroes have made stories still popular and adaptable even today, hundreds of years after they were written. It is the basis for today's creators to imagine and has inspiration about their work. Some of the famous modern works from this old myth include The Mermaid, Hercules, Thor, Greek Roman mythology, Lord of the Rings, Hobbit, etc.
Superheroes in myths often teach us moral lessons, showing us how to make ethical choices in the context of chaos and despair, and providing a message of hope by showing the success of good. Also, through myths that remain from the past to modern society people in many cultures understand their ancient cultures and customs, which show the origin of their roots.