Oral Poetry
This classic study is an introduction to ""oral poetry,"" a broad subject which Ruth Finnegan interprets as ranging from American folksongs, Eskimo lyrics, and modern popular songs to medieval oral literature, the heroic poems of Homer, and recent epic compositions in Asia or the Pacific. The book employs a broad comparative perspective and considers oral poetry from Africa, Asia, and Oceania as well as Europe and America. The results of Finnegan's vast research illuminate and suggest fresh conclusions to many current controversies: the nature of oral tradition and oral composition; the notion of a special oral style; possible connection between types of poetry and types of society; the differences between oral and written communication; and the role of poets in non-literate societies. Drawing on insights from anthropology and literary scholarship, Oral Poetry attempts to create a greater appreciation of the literary aspects of this fascinating form of poetry. Finnegan quotes extensively from a wide variety of sources, mainly in translation. The discussion is presented in non-technical language and will be of interest not only to sociologists and social anthropologists, but also to all those interested in comparative literature and in folk poetry from cultures around the world. The re-issue of this text, widely used in folklore, anthropology, and comparative literature courses, comes at an appropriate juncture in interdisciplinary scholarship, which is witnessing the breakdown of traditional disciplinary boundaries and an increase in the comparative study of oral poetry. For this volume Ruth Finnegan has provided a new foreword relating the text to more recent developments.
1003136261
Oral Poetry
This classic study is an introduction to ""oral poetry,"" a broad subject which Ruth Finnegan interprets as ranging from American folksongs, Eskimo lyrics, and modern popular songs to medieval oral literature, the heroic poems of Homer, and recent epic compositions in Asia or the Pacific. The book employs a broad comparative perspective and considers oral poetry from Africa, Asia, and Oceania as well as Europe and America. The results of Finnegan's vast research illuminate and suggest fresh conclusions to many current controversies: the nature of oral tradition and oral composition; the notion of a special oral style; possible connection between types of poetry and types of society; the differences between oral and written communication; and the role of poets in non-literate societies. Drawing on insights from anthropology and literary scholarship, Oral Poetry attempts to create a greater appreciation of the literary aspects of this fascinating form of poetry. Finnegan quotes extensively from a wide variety of sources, mainly in translation. The discussion is presented in non-technical language and will be of interest not only to sociologists and social anthropologists, but also to all those interested in comparative literature and in folk poetry from cultures around the world. The re-issue of this text, widely used in folklore, anthropology, and comparative literature courses, comes at an appropriate juncture in interdisciplinary scholarship, which is witnessing the breakdown of traditional disciplinary boundaries and an increase in the comparative study of oral poetry. For this volume Ruth Finnegan has provided a new foreword relating the text to more recent developments.
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Oral Poetry

Oral Poetry

by Ruth Finnegan
Oral Poetry

Oral Poetry

by Ruth Finnegan

Overview

This classic study is an introduction to ""oral poetry,"" a broad subject which Ruth Finnegan interprets as ranging from American folksongs, Eskimo lyrics, and modern popular songs to medieval oral literature, the heroic poems of Homer, and recent epic compositions in Asia or the Pacific. The book employs a broad comparative perspective and considers oral poetry from Africa, Asia, and Oceania as well as Europe and America. The results of Finnegan's vast research illuminate and suggest fresh conclusions to many current controversies: the nature of oral tradition and oral composition; the notion of a special oral style; possible connection between types of poetry and types of society; the differences between oral and written communication; and the role of poets in non-literate societies. Drawing on insights from anthropology and literary scholarship, Oral Poetry attempts to create a greater appreciation of the literary aspects of this fascinating form of poetry. Finnegan quotes extensively from a wide variety of sources, mainly in translation. The discussion is presented in non-technical language and will be of interest not only to sociologists and social anthropologists, but also to all those interested in comparative literature and in folk poetry from cultures around the world. The re-issue of this text, widely used in folklore, anthropology, and comparative literature courses, comes at an appropriate juncture in interdisciplinary scholarship, which is witnessing the breakdown of traditional disciplinary boundaries and an increase in the comparative study of oral poetry. For this volume Ruth Finnegan has provided a new foreword relating the text to more recent developments.

Product Details

ISBN-13: 9781532645044
Publisher: Wipf & Stock Publishers
Publication date: 05/16/2018
Pages: 324
Product dimensions: 6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.70(d)

About the Author

Ruth Finnegan OBE, FBA, Emeritus Professor Open University. Her work has mainly been on oral performance, narrative, the ethnography of music, and communicating (including extra-sensory perception). Her publications include Oral Literature in Africa, The Hidden Musicians, Communicating: the Multiple Modes of Human Communication, Why Do We Quote? and, most recently, the novels Black Inked Pearl, Voyage of Pearl of the Seas, and The Helix Pearl. Born in Ireland, she now lives in Old Bletchley, southern England.

Table of Contents

List of plates vii

Preface to the Midland edition ix

Corrigenda xviii

Preface to the first edition xix

Acknowledgements xxv

1 Introductory 1

1 The importance of oral poetry 3

2 Some forms of oral poetry 7

3 What is 'oral' in oral poetry? 16

4 The 'poetry' in oral poetry 24

5 Performance and text 28

2 Some approaches to the study of oral poetry 30

1 Romantic and evolutionist theories 30

2 The 'historical-geographical' school 41

3 Sociological approaches and the sociology of literature 44

4 Two 'ideal types' of society and poetry 46

3 Composition 52

1 Is memorisation the key factor? 52

2 Composition-in-performance and the oral-formulaic theory 58

3 How valid is the oral-formulaic theory? 69

4 Prior composition, memorisation and performance 73

5 Conclusion 86

4 Style and performance 88

1 The relevance of style and performance 88

2 Prosodic systems 90

3 Repetition, style and structure 102

4 Language and diction 109

5 Performance 118

6 Is there a special oral style? 126

7 Conclusion 133

5 Transmission, distribution and publication 134

1 Oral transmission over space and time: some striking cases 135

2 Inert tradition, memorisation or re-creation? 139

3 How do oral poems reach their audiences? 153

4 'Oral transmission' and writing 160

5 Conclusion 168

6 Poets and their positions 170

1 The poet: five case studies 170

2 Some types of poets: specialists, experts and occasional poets 188

3 Are oral poets anonymous? 201

4 The poet as seer 207

5 The poet as individual genius 210

7 Audience, context and function 214

1 Some types of audience 214

2 The effect and the composition of audiences 231

3 The purpose and meaning of poetry: local theories 235

4 Some effects of oral poetry 241

8 Poetry and society 244

1 The link between poetic and social institutions 244

2 Does one type of poetry always go with a particular form of society? 'Heroic age', 'ballad society' and 'oral culture' 246

3 Literature as the reflection and consequence of social forms 262

4 Literature as social action 268

Concluding comment 272

References 276

Index 288

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