Treść książki
Przejdź do opcji czytnikaPrzejdź do nawigacjiPrzejdź do informacjiPrzejdź do stopki
2.Theformativeperiodoforal-formulaicstudies
2.Theformativeperiodoforal-formulaicstudies
9
Itwouldbeperhapsnogreatexaggerationtosaythattheultimateroots
oforal-formulaicstudiesmaybetracedbacktowhatisinageneralized
waycalledtheRenaissancehumanismofthefifteenthandsixteenthcentu-
ries.Itisthussomewhatparadoxical,especiallyinthecontextofastudy
liketheoneathand,thattheappearanceofthedistantforefatherswhom
onemayholdresponsiblefortheemergenceofourmethodologyshould
coincideintimewiththeultimatedemiseofthemedievalromance,not
leastbecauseofthewell-manifestedscorninwhichtheRenaissancehuman-
istsheldtheromancegenre.
Itis,however,theirattentiontothehistoricalcontextofthewritten
textandattemptstoretrievetheoriginalsenseofdecorumbehindan
integralwholeofintrinsicallyrelatedelements,which,ifsometimesobses-
siveandmuchmarredbymisconception,1pavedthewayfortheacademic
discussionoftheHomericpoems,whichoriginatedaroundthemid-seven-
teenthcentury.2InthisdiscussionsomeEuropeanintellectualssuchas
FrançoisHédelin,RichardBentleyorGiambattistaVicosoughttoaccount
fortheallegedinadequaciesandfaultsofcompositionexistinginthe
Homericepics,and,indoingso,theyproposedvarioustheorieswhich
raisedtheissueofauthorshipofthepoems,withsomescholarssuggesting
toseetheIliadandtheOdysseyascompilationsofmaterialcomposedby
variousindividualpoets.
Whilewemay,withthehindsightofferedbythecontemporaryperspec-
tive,seetheobviousfaultintheevidentlackofinterestinaccountingfor
thepossibledifferencesinthepoeticdecorumbetweenHomericGreece
andseventeenth-centuryEurope,whatismoreimportantisthatthepeople
continuingthediscussionintheeighteenthcentury,likeRobertWood,or
Jean-JacquesRousseau,directedtheirattentiontothepossibilityofthe
Homericepicsbeingproductsofaculturewhichdidnotroutinelyuse
writingforthecompositionofliterature.ThusHomer’spoetrywouldhave
tobetreatedasonewhichoriginatedinaculturemarkedlydifferentfrom
thatofcontemporaneousEurope,whichwasbasedontheconstantuseof
writingforartisticactivity.
Inthenineteenthandearlytwentiethcenturies,asthestudyofHomeric
versewasdevelopingwithsustainedmomentum,thereemergedtwocrit-
1FormoredetailsontheissueseethediscussionbyC.S.Lewis(1942:1-65).
2ThispartofthepresentreviewisbasedonthediscussioninOng(1995:16-20)and
Lord(1960:7-9).
