tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7885774624200184490.post4690011273296422084..comments2024-02-27T11:43:23.516-08:00Comments on Arctic Book Review: Unravelling the Franklin Mystery: Inuit TestimonyRussell Potterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11023313195827310776noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7885774624200184490.post-42283462658622215742022-12-19T11:06:42.707-08:002022-12-19T11:06:42.707-08:00Thanks for your review and replies, Russell. I hav...Thanks for your review and replies, Russell. I have just read this book for a second time, having discovered it here (I also bought a copy for my brother). I found it a challenging but rewarding read the first time around; second time it was just a wonder. I am a slow reader yet I raced through it. Your praise of the author is not over-generous; this book is a towering achievement. How he analysed and made (some) sense of the testimony and other evidence is extraordinary. If my home caught fire and I could only rescue one book, this would be it.Steve Ghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04441141372575370064noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7885774624200184490.post-50930742900426388502018-04-14T17:11:24.832-07:002018-04-14T17:11:24.832-07:00Many years ago i bought the first edition of this ...Many years ago i bought the first edition of this book. Now has literally fallen apart from reading, rereading and analyzing it. I cannot thank mr. Woodman enough for the many hours i enjoyed reading and thinking over all the bits of oral tradtions. I had a lot of interest in the search for the north west passage but this book really gave me the "fever"Inhapihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09389333832375000604noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7885774624200184490.post-4363681015295599592015-03-08T18:52:28.011-07:002015-03-08T18:52:28.011-07:00And to answer your second question, I think Woodma...And to answer your second question, I think Woodman accounts very carefully for these kinds of issues. And, in the case of McClintock, Rae, Hall and Schwatka, the testimony is quite close to the events described, and a number of those giving it are eyewitnesses, so there is no question of accuracy of transmission.Russell Potterhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11023313195827310776noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7885774624200184490.post-49164014161392614862015-03-08T17:53:25.699-07:002015-03-08T17:53:25.699-07:00It's not so much that oral tradition is "...It's not so much that oral tradition is "more" true than written records -- it's that its truth, though different in structure, is not in fact less reliable; both modes have their potential 'drift' if you will, but they drift differently. An oral tradition may lose some granularity, or mingle stories from multiple stories; a written tradition will, once in error on some point, repeat that error with accuracy for centuries. These and many other points start with Alfred Lord's <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Singer_of_Tales" rel="nofollow">Singer of Tales</a>, followed by Walter J. Ong's <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Orality-Literacy-Anniversary-Edition-Accents/dp/0415538386" rel="nofollow">Orality and Literacy</a>, both books that I think those who consider Inuit testimony ought to read!Russell Potterhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11023313195827310776noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7885774624200184490.post-55681789283878909912015-03-08T07:26:11.038-07:002015-03-08T07:26:11.038-07:00Much-deserved recognition of Woodman's work on...Much-deserved recognition of Woodman's work on an especially challenging subject, Russell - well done.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7885774624200184490.post-15062288521696969062015-03-08T06:10:12.556-07:002015-03-08T06:10:12.556-07:00Great review, Russell. Thoughtful and well-written...Great review, Russell. Thoughtful and well-written. I wonder a bit, however, at the defense of the truthfulness of oral tradition over written tradition. Yes, there are transmission mistakes in both, but oral traditions are also shaped to the needs of the present. You see this very clearly in the kingship legends of East Africa -- which trace events back 400-500 years. Also, on accuracy, African anthropologists working with this material see marked changes in accuracy beyond two generations. This is, perhaps, because of the line of direct witness to grandchildren, after which the story begins to change. Does Woodman account for these factors -- accuracy and bias -- in his accounts of Inuit testimony?Michael Robinsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17307854093675244498noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7885774624200184490.post-36340707335696583082015-03-08T01:12:24.108-08:002015-03-08T01:12:24.108-08:00Wonderful homage to this man and book, Russell. I ...Wonderful homage to this man and book, Russell. I hope that soon Woodman and others will flood us with re-editions or with new books filled with the new stuff surely Erebus will bring us this spring and summer.Andrés Paredeshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17283802897907742244noreply@blogger.com