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

Author
Lord, Albert Bates [Browse]
Format
Book
Language
English
Published/​Created
Ithaca : Cornell University Press, 1995.
Description
xiii, 258 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm.

Availability

Copies in the Library

Location Call Number Status Location Service Notes
Firestone Library - Stacks PN1341 .L67 1995 Browse related items Request

    Details

    Subject(s)
    Series
    Myth and poetics [More in this series]
    Summary note
    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.
    Bibliographic references
    Includes bibliographical references (p. 239-252) and index.
    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.
    ISBN
    • 0801431034 ((cloth ; : alk. paper))
    • 9780801431036 ((cloth ; : alk. paper))
    LCCN
    94045608
    OCLC
    31740645
    Statement on language in description
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