Filip Višnjić, (1767-1834) Serbian blind guslar

Oral tradition, oral culture and oral lore is a way for a society to transmit history, literature, law and other knowledges across generations without a writing system; one set of criteria specifies material held in common by a group of people, over several generations, and thus distinct from testimony or oral history^[1] In a general sense, "oral tradition" refers to the transmission of cultural material through vocal utterance, and was long held to be a key descriptor of folklore (a criterion no longer rigidly held by all folklorists). Filip Višnjić (Филип Вишњић (1767&ndash1834 was a popular poet and Guslar (gusle player known by some as the " Serbian Homer " Oral history can be defined as the recording preservation and interpretation of historical information, based on the personal experiences and opinions of the speaker Oral literature corresponds in the sphere of the spoken (oral word to Literature as literature operates in the domain of the written word An oral law is a Code of conduct in use in a given Culture, Religion or community application by which a body of rules of human behaviour is transmitted Knowledge is defined ( Oxford English Dictionary) variously as (i expertise and skills acquired by a person through experience or education the theoretical or practical understanding A writing system is a type of Symbolic system used to represent elements or statements expressible in Language. "Testify" redirects here For other uses see Testify (disambiguation and Testimony (disambiguation. Oral history can be defined as the recording preservation and interpretation of historical information, based on the personal experiences and opinions of the speaker Culture (from the Latin cultura stemming from colere, meaning "to cultivate" generally refers to patterns of human activity and the symbolic History The concept of folklore developed as part of the 19th century ideology of Romantic nationalism, leading to the reshaping of oral traditions to serve modern ideological ^[2] As an academic discipline, it refers both to a set of objects of study and a method by which they are studied^[3] -- the method may be called variously "oral traditional theory," "the theory of Oral-Formulaic Composition" and the "Parry-Lord theory" (after two of its founders; see below) The study of oral tradition is distinct from the academic discipline of oral history,^[4] which is the recording of personal memories and histories of those who experienced historical eras or events. An academic discipline or field of study is a branch of Knowledge which is taught or Researched at the college or university level Scientific method refers to bodies of Techniques for investigating phenomena See also Oral tradition The theory of Oral-Formulaic Composition is the mechanism proposed for how the Homeric epics could have been passed down through Oral history can be defined as the recording preservation and interpretation of historical information, based on the personal experiences and opinions of the speaker ^[5] It is also distinct from the study of orality, which can be defined as thought and its verbal expression in societies where the technologies of literacy (especially writing and print) are unfamiliar to most of the population. Orality can be defined as Thought and its verbal expression in societies where the technologies of Literacy (especially writing and print are unfamiliar to most of Thought and thinking are mental forms and Processes respectively ("thought" is both traditional definition of literacy is considered to be the ability to read and write or the ability to use Language to read, write, listen, ^[6]

Study of oral tradition

Mandinka Griot Al-Haji Papa Susso performing songs from the oral tradition of the Gambia on the kora

History

Oral tradition as a field of study had its origins^[7] in the work of the Serb scholar Vuk Stefanovic Karadzic (1787-1864), a contemporary and friend of the Brothers Grimm. A griot ( pronounced /gɹiɒ/ in English or in French, with a silent t) or jeli ( djeli or djéli in French Alhaji Papa Susso (Suntu is a Griot or Jeli, master Kora player and director of the Koriya Musa Center for Research in Oral Tradition Vuk Stefanović Karadžić ( Serbian Cyrillic: Вук Стефановић Караџић ( November 7, 1787 - February 7, 1864 The Brothers Grimm ( German: Die Gebrüder Grimm) Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm, Vuk pursued similar projects of "salvage folklore" (similar to rescue archaeology) in the cognate traditions of the Southern Slavic regions which would later be gathered into Yugoslavia, and with the same admixture of romantic and nationalistic interests (he considered all those speaking Serbo-Croat as Serbs). Rescue archaeology, sometimes called "preventive" or "salvage" archaeology is archaeological survey and excavation carried out in areas threatened by or revealed by Cognates in Linguistics are words that have a common origin They may occur within a language such as shirt and skirt as two English words descended from See also Kingdom of Yugoslavia, Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Yugoslavia ( Serbo-Croatian Romanticism is a complex artistic literary and intellectual movement that originated in the second half of the 18th century in Western Europe, and gained strength during the The term nationalism can refer to an Ideology, a sentiment, a form of Culture, or a Social movement that focuses on the Nation The Serbo-Croatian language or Croato-Serbian language (cрпскохрватски језик srpskohrvatski jezik) is a South Slavic Diasystem Somewhat later, but as part of the same scholarly enterprise of nationalist studies in folklore,^[8] the turcologist Vasily Radlov (1837-1918) would study the songs of the Kara-Kirghiz in what would later become the Soviet Union; Karadzic and Radloff would provide models for the work of Parry (see below). Turkology ( Turcology, Turkologie) is a complex of humanities sciences studying languages history literature folklore culture and Ethnology of people Vasily Vasilievich Radlov or Friedrich Wilhelm Radloff (Васи́лий Васи́льевич Ра́длов – May 12, 1918) was a German The Kara-Kirghiz Autonomous Oblast (Кара-Киргизская АО in the former region of Soviet Central Asia, was created on 14 October 1924 within the Russian SFSR The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR was a constitutionally Socialist state that existed in Eurasia from 1922 to 1991

Milman Parry and Albert Lord

Shortly thereafter, Milman Parry (1902-1935), pursuing a degree in Classics at Harvard, would begin to grapple with what was then called the "Homeric Question," usually framed as "who was Homer?" and "what are the Homeric poems?" ^[9]The Homeric question actually consists of a series of related inquiries, and Parry's contribution, which drew upon and synthesized the insights of previous scholars including Marcel Jousse, Matija Murko and Arnold van Gennep, was to reconsider the foundational assumptions which framed the inquiries, a re-ordering that would have consequences for a great many literatures and disciplines. Milman Parry ( 1902 - December 3[[ 935]] was a scholar of Epic poetry and the founder of the discipline of Oral tradition. Classical antiquity (also the classical era or classical period) is a broad term for a long period of cultural History centered on the Mediterranean The Homeric Question concerns the doubt and consequent debate over the identity of Homer Homer ( Ancient Greek:, Homēros) is a legendary ancient Greek epic Poet, traditionally said to be the author of the epic poems the Matija Murko also known as Mathias Murko ( February 10 1861 - February 11 1952) was a Slovene scholar known mostly for Arnold van Gennep ( 23 April, 1873 - 1957 was a noted French Ethnographer and Folklorist. ^[10]

Parry's work under Antoine Meillet at the Sorbonne led to his crucial insight into the "formula," which he originally defined as "a group of words which is regularly employed under the same metrical conditions to express a given essential idea. Antoine Meillet ( Paul-Jules-Antoine Meillet, November 11, 1866 - September 21, 1936) was one of the most important French linguists "^[11] In Parry's view, formulas were not individual and idiosyncratic devices of particular artists, but the shared inheritance of a tradition of singers. They were easily remembered, making it possible for the singer to execute an improvisational composition-in-performance. Improvisation (also called extemporization) is the practice of acting singing talking and reacting of making and creating in the moment and in response to the stimulus of Musical composition is an original piece of Music the structure of a musical piece the process of creating a new A later scholar commented on the potential for Parry's concept to be seen as disparaging of Homeric genius: "The meaning of the Greek term 'rhapsodize', rhapsoidein, 'to stitch song together' could then be taken in a negative sense: Homer stitched together pre-fabricated parts. "^[12]

The idea indeed met with immediate resistance,^[13] because it seemed to make the fount of Western literary eloquence the slave of a system of clichés, but it accounted for such otherwise inexplicable features of the Homeric poems as gross anachronisms (revealed by advances in historical and archaeological knowledge), the presence of incompatible dialects, and the deployment of locally unsuitable epithets ("blameless Aegisthos" for the murderer of Agamemnon, or the almost comic use of "swift-footed Achilles" for the hero in conspicuously sedentary moments). Western literature refers to the Literature of the Indo-European languages, as well as several languages geographically or historically related to the Indo-European A cliché (from French, klɪ'ʃe or cliche is a phrase expression or idea that has been overused to the point of losing its intended force An anachronism (from the Greek "ana" " ανά " "against anti-" and "chronos" " χρόνος " History is the study of the past particularly the written record Those who study history as a Profession are called Historians Etymology Archaeology, archeology, or archæology (from Greek grc ἀρχαιολογία archaiologia – grc ἀρχαῖος archaīos A dialect (from the Greek word διάλεκτος dialektos) is a variety of a Language that is characteristic of a particular group of An epithet (from Greek ἐπίθετον - epitheton, neut of ἐπίθετος - epithetos, "attributed added" is a In Greek mythology, Aegisthus ( Ancient Greek:, " goat strength " &mdash also transliterated as Aegisthos In Greek mythology, Agamemnon (very resolute / ( ancient Greek:) is a hero, the son of King Atreus of Mycenae "Achilleus" redirects here For the emperor with this name see Achilleus (emperor. ^[14][15]

Parry was appointed to a junior professorship at Harvard, and during this time became aware of living oral traditions in the Balkan region. In two field expeditions with his young assistant Albert Lord (1912-1991) he would record thousands of songs on aluminum disks. Albert Bates Lord (1912-1991 was a Professor of Slavic and Comparative Literature at Harvard University who after the untimely death of Milman Parry, carried on An aluminum disc (or aluminum disk) is a disc (disk made out of Aluminum and is used as a Transcription disc in Magnetic recording media specifically ^[16] The collection would provide the basis for an empirical documentation of the dynamics of composition of metrical narrative in traditional oral performance. ^[17] This analysis included the patterns and types of variation at lexical and other levels which would yield a structural account of a work's multiformity. In Linguistics, the lexicon (from Greek Λεξικόν of a language is its Vocabulary, including its words and expressions For the use of structuralism in biology see Structuralism (biology Structuralism is an approach to the human sciences that attempts to analyze This phenomenon could only be accounted for in standard literary methodology by concepts of “corruption” and “distortion” of a pristine, original “ur-text” or hypothetical “lost Q" ("Quelle", German for "source"), hypothesized via stemmatology. Methodology (also called manner) is defined as "the analysis of the principles of methods rules and postulates employed by a discipline" Textual criticism (or lower criticism) is a branch of Literary criticism that is concerned with the identification and removal of Transcription errors in Thus the work of Parry and Lord reduced the prominence of the historic-geographic method in folkloristics. Julius Leopold Fredrik Krohn ( April 19 1835 – August 28 1888) was a Finnish folk poetry researcher a professor of Finnish Folkloristics is the formal academic study of Folklore. What actually constitutes folklore is disputed even within the discipline but generally folklore focuses on the ^[18]

Tragically, Parry was killed in a pistol-accident. His work was posthumously published by his son Adam Parry as The Making of Homeric Verse (Oxford: Clarendon, 1971). Lord, however, had meanwhile published The Singer of Tales (1960)^[19], a work which summarized both Parry's response to the Homeric Question, and the joint work he had done with Parry in the Balkans. The Singer of Tales is a book by Albert Lord that discusses the Oral tradition as a theory of literary composition and its applications to Homeric The Parry-Lord work exercised great influence on other scholars, notably Francis P. Magoun, whose application of their model to Anglo-Saxon traditions demonstrated the explicative and problem-solving power of the theory^[20] – a process that would be repeated by other scholars in numerous independent traditions (see below). Francis Peabody Magoun Jr MC ( January 6, 1895 &ndash June 5, 1979) was one of the seminal figures in the study of Medieval For their language see Anglo-Saxon language. Anglo-Saxon is the term usually used to describe the invading Tribes in the south

Walter Ong

In a separate development, the media theorist Marshall McLuhan (1911-1980) would begin to focus attention on the ways that communicative media shape the nature of the content conveyed. Media studies is a collection of academic programs regarding the content history meaning and effects of various media. Communication is the process of conveying information from a sender to a receiver with the use of a medium in which the communicated information is understood the same way "Popular press" redirects here note that the University of Wisconsin Press publishes under the imprint "The Popular Press" ^[21] He would serve as mentor to the Jesuit, Walter Ong (1912-2003), whose interests in cultural history, psychology and rhetoric would result in Orality and Literacy (Methuen, 1980) and the important but less-known Fighting for Life: Contest, Sexuality and Consciousness (Cornell, 1981)^[22] These two works articulated the contrasts between cultures defined by primary orality, writing, print, and the secondary orality of the electronic age. The Society of Jesus ( Latin: Societas Iesu, SJ and SI or SJ, SI) is a Catholic religious order Father Walter Jackson Ong, PhD ( November 30, 1912 &ndash August 12, 2003) was an American Jesuit Priest, The term cultural history (from the German term) refers both to an Academic discipline and to its subject matter Psychology (from Greek grc ψῡχή psȳkhē, "breath life soul" and grc -λογία -logia) is an Academic and Rhetoric has had many definitions no simple definition can do it justice Orality can be defined as Thought and its verbal expression in societies where the technologies of Literacy (especially writing and print are unfamiliar to most of Walter J Ong presented the dichotomy between oral and literate cultures in his book Orality and Literacy The Technologizing of the Word, published in 1982 ^[23]

I style the orality of a culture totally untouched by any knowledge of writing or print, 'primary orality'. It is 'primary' by contrast with the 'secondary orality' of present-day high technology culture, in which a new orality is sustained by telephone, radio, television and other electronic devices that depend for their existence and functioning on writing and print. Today primary culture in the strict sense hardly exists, since every culture knows of writing and has some experience of its effects. Still, to varying degrees many cultures and sub-cultures, even in a high-technology ambiance, preserve much of the mind-set of primary orality. [24]

Ong's works also made possible an integrated theory of oral tradition which accounted for both production of content (the chief concern of Parry-Lord theory) and its reception. ^[25] This approach, like McLuhan's, kept the field open not just to the study of aesthetic culture but to the way physical and behavioral artifacts of oral societies are used to store, manage and transmit knowledge, so that oral tradition provides methods for investigation of cultural differences, other than the purely verbal, between oral and literate societies.

The most-often studied section of Orality and Literacy concerns the “psychodynamics of orality” This chapter seeks to define the fundamental characteristics of 'primary' orality and summarizes a series of descriptors (including but not limited to verbal aspects of culture) which might be used to index the relative orality or literacy of a given text or society. Psychodynamics, is the systematized study and theory of the psychological forces that underlie human behavior emphasizing the interplay between unconscious and conscious motivation and ^[26]

John Miles Foley

In advance of Ong’s synthesis, John Miles Foley, who studied with Robert Creed (who had in turn studied with Magoun), began a series of papers based on his own fieldwork on South Slavic oral genres, emphasizing the dynamics of performers and audiences. John Miles Foley Is a scholar of comparative Oral tradition, Medieval and Old English Literature (particularly Beowulf) Ancient Greek ^[27] Foley effectively consolidated oral tradition as an academic field[2] when he compiled Oral-Formulaic Theory and Research in 1985. The bibiography gives a summary of the progress scholars made in evaluating the oral tradition up to that point, and includes a list of all relevant scholarly articles relating to the theory of Oral-Formulaic Composition. See also Oral tradition The theory of Oral-Formulaic Composition is the mechanism proposed for how the Homeric epics could have been passed down through He also both established both the journal Oral Tradition and founded the Center for Studies in Oral Tradition (1986) at the University of Missouri–Columbia. The University of Missouri (also known as the University of Missouri–Columbia, Mizzou, or MU) is a public land-grant and research Foley developed Oral Theory beyond the somewhat mechanistic notions presented in earlier versions of Oral-Formulaic Theory, by extending Ong's interest in cultural features of oral societies beyond the verbal, by drawing attention to the agency of the bard and by describing how oral traditions bear meaning. Etymology The word is a Loanword from descendant languages of Proto-Celtic *bardos, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *gwerh2

The bibliography would establish a clear underlying methodology which accounted for the findings of scholars working in the separate Linguistics fields (primarily Ancient Greek, Anglo-Saxon and Serbo-Croatian). Linguistics is the scientific study of Language, encompassing a number of sub-fields The Ancient Greek language is the historical stage in the development of the Hellenic language family spanning the Archaic (c Perhaps more importantly, it would stimulate conversation among these specialties, so that a network of independent but allied investigations and investigators could be established. ^[28]

Foley’s key works include The Theory of Oral Composition (1988);^[29] Immanent Art (1991); Traditional Oral Epic: The Odyssey, Beowulf and the Serbo-Croatian Return-Song (1993); The Singer of Tales in Performance (1995); Teaching Oral Traditions (1998); How to Read an Oral Poem (2002). His Pathways Project (2006-) draws parallels between the media dynamics of oral traditions and the Internet. The Internet is a global system of interconnected Computer networks

Acceptance and further elaboration

The theory of oral tradition would undergo elaboration and development as it grew in acceptance. ^[30] While the number of formulas documented for various traditions proliferated,^[31] the concept of the formula remained lexically-bound. However, numerous innovations appeared, such as the “formulaic system”^[32] with structural “substitution slots” for syntactic, morphological and narrative necessity (as well as for artistic invention). In Linguistics, syntax (from Ancient Greek grc συν- syn-, "together" and grc τάξις táxis, "arrangement" is the Morphology is the field of Linguistics that studies the internal structure of words A narrative or story is a construct created in a suitable format (written spoken poetry prose images song Theater, or Dance) that describes a sequence of ^[33] Sophisticated models such as Foley’s “word-type placement rules” followed. ^[34]Higher levels of formulaic composition were defined over the years, such as “ring composition,”^[35] “responsion”^[36] and the “type-scene” (also called a "theme" or "typical scene"^[37]). Ring composition is a Narrative technique said to be characteristic of preliterate peoples Examples include the "Beasts of Battle" ^[38] and the "Cliffs of Death"^[39] Some of these characteristic patterns of narrative details, (like “the arming sequence;”^[40] “the hero on the beach;”^[41] “the traveler recognizes his goal”^[42] would show evidence of global distribution. ^[43]

At the same time, the fairly rigid division between oral and literate was replaced by recognition of transitional and compartmentalized texts and societies, including models of diglossia (Brian Stock^[44] Franz Bäuml,^[45] and Eric Havelock)^[46]. In Linguistics, diglossia is a situation where in a given society there are two (often closely-related languages one of high prestige, which is generally used Brian Benjamin Stock (born 24 December 1981 in Winchester) is an English professional footballer who currently plays as a Midfielder Eric Alfred Havelock (ˈhævlɒk (June 3 1903 &ndash April 4 1988 was a British classicist who spent most of his life in Canada and the United States Perhaps most importantly, the terms and concepts of “orality” and “literacy” came to be replaced with the more useful and apt “traditionality” and “textuality. Orality can be defined as Thought and its verbal expression in societies where the technologies of Literacy (especially writing and print are unfamiliar to most of traditional definition of literacy is considered to be the ability to read and write or the ability to use Language to read, write, listen, The word tradition comes from the Latin traditionem acc of traditio which means "a giving up delivering up surrendering" and is used in a number of Textuality is a concept in Linguistics and Literary theory that refers to the attributes that distinguish the text (a technical term indicating any communicative content ”^[47] Very large units would be defined (The Indo-European Return Song)^[48] and areas outside of military epic would come under investigation: women’s song,^[49] riddles. An epic is a lengthy Narrative poem, ordinarily concerning a serious subject containing details of heroic deeds and events significant to a culture or nation A riddle is a Statement or Question having a double or veiled meaning put forth as a Puzzle to be solved ”^[50] and other genres.

The methodology of oral tradition now conditions an large variety of studies, not only in folklore, literature and literacy, but in philosophy,^[51] communication theory,^[52] Semiotics,^[53] and including a very broad and continually expanding variety of languages and ethnic groups,[3][4][5][6][7][8][9], and perhaps most conspicuously in biblical studies[10], in which Werner Kelber has been especially prominent. History The concept of folklore developed as part of the 19th century ideology of Romantic nationalism, leading to the reshaping of oral traditions to serve modern ideological Literature is the Art of written works Literally translated the word means "acquaintance with letters" (from Latin littera letter traditional definition of literacy is considered to be the ability to read and write or the ability to use Language to read, write, listen, Philosophy is the study of general problems concerning matters such as existence knowledge truth beauty justice validity mind and language There is much discussion in the academic world of Communication as to what actually constitutes communication Semiotics, semiotic studies, or semiology is the study of sign processes (semiosis or signification and communication signs and Symbols both Biblical studies is the academic study of the Judeo-Christian Bible and related texts [11]; the annual bibliography is indexed by 100 areas, most of which are ethnolinguistic divisions. [12]

Present developments explore the implications of the theory for rhetoric^[54] and composition,^[55] interpersonal communication,^[56] cross-cultural communication,[13] postcolonial studies,^[57] rural community development,[14] popular culture^[58] and film studies,[15] and many other areas. Rhetoric has had many definitions no simple definition can do it justice The term Composition in written language refers to the process and study of creating written works or pieces of Literature. Interpersonal communication is defined by communication scholars in numerous ways though most involve participants who are interdependent on one another have a shared history Cross-cultural communication (also frequently referred to as intercultural communication) is a field of study that looks at how people from differing cultural backgrounds Postcolonialism ( postcolonial theory, post-colonial theory) is an intellectual discourse that holds together a set of theories found among the texts and Rural community development encompasses a range of approaches and activities that aim to improve the welfare and livelihoods of people living in rural areas. Popular culture (or pop culture) is the Culture — patterns of human activity and the symbolic structures that give such activities significance and importance — Film theory debates the essence of the cinema and provides conceptual frameworks for understanding film's relationship to Reality, the other Arts individual The most significant areas of theoretical development at present may be the construction of systematic hermeneutics^[59][60][61] and aesthetics^[62][63] specific to oral traditions. Hermeneutics may be described as the development and study of Theories of the interpretation and understanding of texts Aesthetics or esthetics ( also spelled æsthetics) is commonly known as the study of sensory or sensori-emotional values sometimes called

Criticism and debates

The theory of oral tradition encountered early resistance from scholars who perceived it as potentially supporting either one side or another in the controversy between what were known as “unitarians” and “analysts” – that is, scholars who believed Homer to have been a single, historical figure, and those who saw him as a conceptual “author function,” a convenient name to assign to what was essentially a repertoire of traditional narrrative. The Homeric Question concerns the doubt and consequent debate over the identity of Homer ^[64] A much more general dismissal of the theory and its implications simply described it as "unprovable"^[65] Some scholars, mainly outside the field of oral traditon, ^{[66][67][68][69]} represent (either dismissively or with approval) this body of theoretical work as reducing the great epics to children’s party games like “telephone” or “Chinese whispers”. The Experimental Physics and Industrial Control System ( EPICS) is a software environment used to develop and implement Distributed control systems to operate devices Chinese Whispers is a 1987 Novella by Maurice Leitch published as a Hutchinson Novella in Australia and the United Chinese Whispers is a 1987 Novella by Maurice Leitch published as a Hutchinson Novella in Australia and the United While games provide amusement by showing how messages distort content via uncontextualized transmission, Parry’s supporters argue that the theory of oral tradition reveals how oral methods optimized the signal-to-noise ratio and thus improved the quality, stability and integrity of content transmission. Signal-to-noise ratio (often abbreviated SNR or S/N) is an Electrical engineering concept also used in other fields (such as scientific Measurements Integrity is Consistency of actions values methods measures and principles ^{[70][71][72][73]}

There were disputes concerning particular findings of the theory. For example, those trying to support or refute Crowne's hypothesis found the "Hero on the Beach" formula in numerous Old English poems. It was also discovered in other works of Germanic origin, Middle English poetry, and even an Icelandic prose saga. The history of English poetry stretches from the middle of the 7th century to the present day The sagas (from Icelandic saga, plural sögur) are stories about ancient Scandinavian and Germanic history about early Viking voyages J. A. Dane, in an article^[74] characterized as "polemics without rigor"^[75] claimed that the appearance of the theme in Ancient Greek poetry, a tradition without known connection to the Germanic, invalidated the notion of "an autonomous theme in the baggage of an oral poet. The Ancient Greek language is the historical stage in the development of the Hellenic language family spanning the Archaic (c "

Within Homeric studies specifically, Lord's The Singer of Tales, which focused on problems and questions that arise in conjunction with applying oral-formulaic theory to problematic texts such as the Iliad, Odyssey, and even Beowulf, influenced nearly all of the articles written on Homer and oral-formulaic composition thereafter. The Singer of Tales is a book by Albert Lord that discusses the Oral tradition as a theory of literary composition and its applications to Homeric The Iliad ( Greek: Ἰλιάς (Ancient Ιλιάδα (Modern is together with the Odyssey, one of two ancient The Odyssey ( Greek: Ὀδύσσεια or Odússeia) is one of two major ancient Greek epic poems attributed to Homer. Beowulf is an Old English Heroic epic poem of anonymous authorship dating as recorded in the Nowell Codex manuscript from between Homer ( Ancient Greek:, Homēros) is a legendary ancient Greek epic Poet, traditionally said to be the author of the epic poems the However, in response to Lord, Geoffrey Kirk published "The Songs of Homer," questioning Lord's extension of the oral-formulaic nature of Serbian and Croatian literature (the area from which the theory was first developed) to Homeric epic. Kirk argues that Homeric poems differ from those traditions in their "metrical strictness," "formular system[s]", and creativity. In other words, Kirk argued that Homeric poems were recited under a system that gave the reciter much more freedom to choose words and passages to get to the same end than the Serbo-Croatian poet, who was merely "reproductive". ^[76][77] Shortly thereafter, Eric Havelock's Preface to Plato revolutionized how scholars looked at Homeric epic by arguing not only that it was the product of an oral tradition, but also that the oral-formulas contained therein served as a way for ancient Greeks to preserve cultural knowledge across many different generations. ^[78] Adam Parry, in his 1966 work "Have we Homer's Iliad?", theorized the existence of the most fully developed oral poet to his time, a person who could (at his discretion) creatively and intellectually create nuanced characters in the context of the accepted, traditional story. In fact, he discounted the Serbo-Croatian tradition to an "unfortunate" extent, choosing to elevate the Greek model of oral-tradition above all others. ^[79][80] Lord reacted to Kirk's and Parry's essays with "Homer as Oral Poet," published in 1968, which reaffirmed Lord's belief in the relevance of Yugoslav poetry and its similarities to Homer and downplayed the intellectual and literary role of the reciters of Homeric epic. ^[81]

Many of the criticisms of the theory have been absorbed into the evolving field as useful refinements and modifications. For example, in what Foley called a "pivotal" contribution, Larry Benson introduced the concept of "written-formulaic" to describe the status of some Anglo-Saxon poetry which, while demonstrably written, contains evidence of oral influences, including heavy reliance on formulas and themes^[82] A number of individual scholars in many areas continue to have misgivings about the applicability of the theory or the aptness of the South Slavic comparison,^[83] and particularly what they regard as its implications for the creativity which may legitimately be attributed to the individual artist. ^[84] However, at present, there seems to be little systematic or theoretically coordinated challenge to the fundamental tenets of the theory; as Foley put it, ""there have been numerous suggestions for revisions or modifications of the theory, but the majority of controversies have generated further understanding. ^[85]

See also

• Intangible culture
• Oral law
• Oral literature
• Oral Torah
• Orality
• Secondary orality
• Traditional knowledge
• Patha, Śrauta
• Oral Tradition Journal
• Parampara
• Understanding Media

References

External links

• Back to the Oral Tradition
• The Center for Studies in Oral Tradition
• The Milman Parry Collection of Oral Literature Online
• Oral Tradition Journal
• Post-Gutenberg Galaxy