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I.TheMethodologicalBackground
studyingthelivingtraditionofthecompositionofnarrativeversewhich
appearedtocorrespondtothepoeticpracticeatthetimesofHomer.
AftertheprematuredeathofMilmanParry,hisworkonSerbo-Croatian
epicpoetrywascontinuedbyhismostprominentdisciple,AlbertB.Lord.
OnemayindeedsaythatLord’s1960publicationtitledTheSingerofTales
becamethemostinfluentialbookonthetopicoforalcompositionpublished
inthetwentiethcentury.Theimportanceofthisextremelydetailedand
researchedstudyoftheguslarsandtheircraftoforalversecomposition
liesinthefactthatitdevelopsthemethodologicalapparatusforthedetailed
studyoftheoralformulaeasfunctioninginthetextsanditalsoaccounts
forsuchissuesastheprocessofacquiringtheformulaicskillbythepoet
andthepossibilitiesandpracticeofmodifyingtheshapeofeachindividual
poemfromperformancetoperformance.Itseemsthatthemostvital
contributionbyLordtoParry’sthoughtisinhisdevelopmentofthe
conceptofthefltheme”(cf.Lord1960:69-98),whichdenotesasection
oftheplotdevotedtooneoftheconventionalmotifsaroundwhichgroups
oforalformulaeareorganized.
4.Theimpactoftheclassicoral-formulaictheory
onmedievalstudiesuntilthe1960s
AlthoughtheimpactofMilmanParry’sfindingscouldalmostimme-
diatelybefeltuponacademicspursuingthefieldofmedievalstudies,itis
onlyinthelasttwentyorsoyearsthattheissuesrelatingtotheopposition
oforalityvs.literacyinthecontextoftheMiddleAgeshavebeengiven
properattention.Thereasonforthishaslaininthefactthatmedieval
literatureoffersalotofparticularlydifficultproblemsinthiscontext.
Therehavealwaysexistedbasicallytwomostimportantstumblingblocks
tothedevelopmentoforalstudiesinthecontextofmedievalliterature
andculture.
Thefirsthasbeenthequestionoftheuniquelyindividualcharacterof
medievalcultureingeneral,causedbytheprolongedexistenceoftheoral
modesofsociallifeinanenvironmentwherethemediumofthewritten
wordhadmadeconsiderableinroads.
Furthermore,thereexistsanumberoftechnicalissuesconnectedwith
questionssuchasthestatusofthemanuscriptsource,whichisawritten
textandthustheroleofanyoralmethodsofcompositionatitsoriginis
inherentlydifficulttoestablishconclusively.Whilethisproblemwasnot
newtoHomericstudiesthemselves,themedievalcontextmadeitneces-
