Written voices, spoken signs : tradition, performance, and the epic text / edited by Egbert Bakker & Ahuvia Kahane.

Format:

Book

Contributor:

Bakker, Egbert J.

Kahane, Ahuvia.

Series:

Center for Hellenic Studies colloquia.

Center for Hellenic Studies colloquia

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Homer--Criticism and interpretation--Congresses.

Homer.

Epic poetry--History and criticism--Theory, etc--Congresses.

Epic poetry.

Comparative literature--Greek and Medieval--Congresses.

Comparative literature.

Comparative literature--Medieval and Greek--Congresses.

Mythology, Greek, in literature--Congresses.

Mythology, Greek, in literature.

Written communication--Greece--Congresses.

Written communication.

Oral interpretation of poetry--Congresses.

Oral interpretation of poetry.

Oral-formulaic analysis--Congresses.

Oral-formulaic analysis.

Oral tradition--Greece--Congresses.

Oral tradition.

Oral tradition--Europe--Congresses.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (320 pages)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Cambridge, Mass. : Harvard University Press, 1997.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

Written Voices, Spoken Signs is a stimulating introduction to new perspectives on Homer and other traditional epics. Taking advantage of recent research on language and social exchange, the nine essays in this volume focus on performance and audience reception of oral poetry. These innovative essays by leading scholars of Homer, oral poetics, and epic invite us to rethink some key concepts for an understanding of traditional epic poetry. Egbert Bakker examines the epic performer's use of time and tense in recounting a past that is alive. Tackling the question of full-length performance of the monumental Iliad, Andrew Ford considers the extent to which the work was perceived as a coherent whole in the archaic age. John Miles Foley addresses questions about spoken signs and the process of reference in epic discourse, and Ahuvia Kahane studies rhythm as a semantic factor in the Homeric performance. Richard Martin suggests a new range of performance functions for the Homeric simile. And Gregory Nagy establishes the importance of one feature of epic language, the ellipsis. These six essays centered on Homer engage with fundamental issues that are addressed by three essays primarily concerned with medieval epic: those by Franz Bäuml on the concept of fact; by Wulf Oesterreicher on types of orality; and by Ursula Schaefer on written and spoken media. In their Introduction the editors highlight the underlying approach and viewpoints of this collaborative volume.Reviews of this book: "Despite its wide range of topics and approaches, the volume has a clear thematic focus. All contributors seek to leave behind the more formal concerns of past generations of scholars and aim instead at an understanding of orality as that which is (conceptually or actually) close, immediate, or performed. In their joint search for the new picture, classicists, linguists, and medievalists discover a range of different 'oralities'." --J. Haubold, Classical Review

Contents:

Frontmatter

Foreword

Contents

Introduction / Bakker, Egbert / Kahane, Ahuvia

1. Storytelling in the Future: Truth, Time, and Tense in Homeric Epic / Bakker, Egbert

2. Writing the Emperor's Clothes On: Literacy and the Production of Facts / Bäuml, Franz H.

3. Traditional Signs and Homeric Art / Foley, John Miles

4. The Inland Ship: Problems in the Performance and Reception of Homeric Epic / Ford, Andrew

5. Hexameter Progression and the Homeric Hero's Solitary State / Kahane, Ahuvia

6. Similes and Performance / Martin, Richard P.

7. Ellipsis in Homer / Nagy, Gregory

8. Types of Orality in Text / Oesterreicher, Wulf

9. The Medial Approach: A Paradigm Shift in the Philologies? / Schaefer, Ursula

Notes

Bibliography

Contributors

Index

Notes:

Papers originally presented at the CHS Colloquium held June 22-26, 1994 at the Center for Hellenic Studies in Washington, D.C.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9780674261884

0674261887

9780674020467

0674020464

OCLC:

923118496