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3.Theclassicaloral-formulaictheorybetween1928and1960
3.Theclassicaloral-formulaictheorybetween
1928and1960
11
Inthefirsttwodecadesofthetwentiethcentury4someimportant
preliminaryworkontheissueofthedifferencesbetweentheoraland
literatecultureinthecontextoftheHomericstudieswasconductedby
scholarssuchasJ.E.Ellendt,H.Düntzer,orArnoldVanGennep,who
discussedtheinfluenceoftheoralmodeofcompositionontheGreek
metre,andM.MurkoandMarcelJousse,whostressedthedifferencein
thestatusofmemorizationandotheraspectsofpoeticcompositionand
transmissionexistingintheoralandliteratesocialenvironment.
Allthisresearchhadcreatedthemomentumfortheseminalwork
undertakenbyMilmanParryduringthe1920sandG30s,theeffectofwhich
wasnotonlythebirthofanewliterarytheory,butalsonolessthanthe
birthofawholenewdisciplineofliterarystudies.WhatParryproposed
asamodelofcomposition5fortheHomericepicwasthepracticeof
composingversewiththeuseofasetofready-madephraseswhichwould
fitthemetricalrequirementsoftheGreekhexameterline.Inhisarticle
titledflStudiesintheEpicTechniqueofOralVerse-Making.I:Homerand
HomericStyle”6Parrydefinedhistermflformula”asflagroupofwords
whichisregularlyemployedunderthesamemetricalconditionstoexpress
agivenessentialidea”.Healsolinkedthistermwiththenotionoffloral
performance”.Thisterm,intheclassicformoftheoral-formulaictheory,
meanscompositionofversewiththehelpoftheformulaeduringitsoral
presentationinfrontofalisteningaudience.Thismeantexcludingany
formofrecitationfrommemoryofaready-madefragmentofactualverse
fromfittingthetermfloral”,evenifsuchwouldbetheactualmodeof
delivery.
Thesetwotermsbecamethecornerstonesoforal-formulaicstudiesvirtu-
allyuntilthepresentday.Infact,theevolutionofthisparticularfieldof
studiesinthelastcenturymeantscholarscomingtogripswiththesebasic
definitionsandtryingtodevelopandimproveupontheirconceptualrami-
fications.Thus,whileParry’sworkbeganasastudyoftheHomericpoems,
itwasfollowedbyanexhaustivestudyoftheoralepictraditionthencurrent
inwhatisnowSerbiaandCroatia,whichwasstillvibrantinthefirsthalf
ofthetwentiethcenturyandwhichofferedtheuniqueopportunityof
4BasedonOng(1995:20-21).
5BasedonthediscussioninOng(1995:20-30)andLord(1960:1-12).
6QuotedafterLord(1960:4).