Book
The written and the spoken: literacy and oral transmission among the Uyghur
Das Arabische Buch • Berlin • Published In 2000 • Pages: 101
By: Bellér-Hann, Ildikó.
Abstract
This is a study of the power of the written word in non-privileged, mostly illiterate segments of local Uyghur society. The region has had a long history of writing, which has carried much prestige and been used as an instrument of political control. The written word was employed in civil disputes, marriages, divorces, commercial activities, and magic. Oral transmission of the Koran occurred in neighborhood classrooms. Other forms of oral transmission included popular fairy tales, legends, songs, and historical tales. Modern secular education was introduced in the twentieth century, competing with religious education. In the post-1949 socialist period, a mass literacy program was implemented. During fieldwork in the mid-1990s, the author observed the persisting oral transmission of culture and use of writing as a political tool.
- HRAF PubDate
- 2023
- Region
- Asia
- Sub Region
- Central Asia
- Document Type
- Book
- Evaluation
- Creator Type
- Ethnologist
- Document Rating
- 4: Excellent Secondary Data
- 5: Excellent Primary Data
- Analyst
- Ian Skoggard; 2014
- Field Date
- 1995-1996
- Coverage Date
- 1850 - 1996
- Coverage Place
- Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, People's Republic of China
- Notes
- Ildikó Bellér-Hann
- Includes bibliographical references (p. 91-101)
- LCCN
- 2001375172
- LCSH
- Uighur language--Writing--History
- Uighur (Turkic people)--China--Xinjiang Uygur Zizhiqu--Intellectual life
- Uighur (Turkic people)--China--Xinjiang Uygur Zizhiqu--Education
- Literacy--China--Xinjiang Uygur Zizhiqu
- Oral communication--China--Xinjiang Uygur Zizhiqu
- Oral tradition--China--Xinjiang Uygur Zizhiqu
- Xinjiang Uygur Zizhiqu (China)--Intellectual life