The singer resumes the tale / Albert Bates Lord ; edited by Mary Louise Lord.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Lord, Albert Bates.

Contributor:

Lord, Mary Louise, 1916-2009.

Center for Hellenic Studies (Washington, D.C.)

Series:

Myth and poetics

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Homer.

Beowulf.

Folk poetry--History and criticism.

Folk poetry.

Poetry, Medieval--History and criticism.

Poetry, Medieval.

Oral tradition.

Oral-formulaic analysis.

Local Subjects:

Homer.

Beowulf.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (xiii, 258 pages) : illustrations.

Place of Publication:

Ithaca : Cornell University Press, 1995.

System Details:

text file

Summary:

Elements of the oral tradition - the practice of storytelling in prose or verse, the art of composing and transmitting songs, the content of these texts, the kinds of songs composed, and the poetics of oral literature - are discussed in the light of several traditions, beginning in the ancient world, through the Middle Ages, to the present. Throughout, the central figure is always the singer. Homer, the Beowulf poet, women who perform lyric songs, tellers of folktales, singers of such ballads as "Barbara Allen," bards of the Balkans: all play prominent roles in Lord's book, as they have played central roles in the creation of this fundamental literature.

Contents:

Foreword / Gregory Nagy

Preface / Mary Louise Lord

1. The Nature and Kinds of Oral Literature

2. Oral Traditional Lyric Poetry

3. Homer and the Muses: Oral Traditional Poetics, a Mythic Episode, and Arming Scenes in the Iliad

4. Beowulf and Oral Epic Tradition

5. The Formula in Anglo-Saxon Poetry

6. The Theme in Anglo-Saxon Poetry

7. The Ballad: Textual Stability, Variation, and Memorization

8. Rebuttal

9. Two Versions of the Theme of the Overnight Visit in The Wedding of Smailagic Meho

10. The Transitional Text.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 239-252) and index.

Title from title screen.

ISBN:

0801431034

9780801431036

OCLC:

31740645