Post date: May 3, 2014 11:18:12 PM
This week, I researched about Ainu’s oral literature. It can divide three types, heroic epic, mythic epic and prose tales. Those oral literatures of Ainu are spoken and sung in Ainu language, which I researched last week. And those oral literatures include customs, history and view of the world of Ainu people, in its contents. In last semester, I have researched about oral literatures, then I researched Yukar, Kamuy yukar and tsuitaku. According to アイヌ文化の基礎知識 (the basic knowledge of Ainu culture) written by Ainu Ethnology Museum, Yukar and heroic epics, Kamuy yukar and mythic epics, and Tsuitaku and prose tales are same meaning. It is interesting that those oral literatures have their own feature. For example, storytellers have their own personal melodies for heroic epics, Yukar. When storytellers know new story, they sing in their own melody. On the other hand, mythic epics have own melodies, so all storytellers sing in same melody. And prose tales are spoken like ordinary speech or conversation. Now I’m interested in native speaker of Ainu language, Shigeru Kayano who was a member of the House of Councillors, and Ainu’s ideas of Kamuy, so I will research about them next week.
(205 words)
財団法人アイヌ民族博物館監修「アイヌ文化の基礎知識」草風館 1993
榎森進編「アイヌの歴史と文化 Ⅰ・Ⅱ」創童社 2003・2004
Pon Kapi-sos Hokkaido Prefecture