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4.Theimpactoftheclassicoralformulaictheoryonmedievalstudies...
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sarytocometogripswiththesecondissue,namelyoneconcerningthe
modeofthetext’spresentationtoitsaudience,andtheextenttowhich
thepossibleoralpresentationdeterminedthefeaturesofthepoetictext
composedtobedeliveredduringsuchapresentation.Thesituationwas
furtheraggravatedbytheinsistenceoftheoral-formulaicscholarsofthe
dayonthestrictdistinctionbetweentheoralandliteratemodesofcompo-
sition,andtheirinsistenceonthesomewhatpuristdefinitionoforality,
whichwasdefendedbyLord,whostillina1985articlecriticisedreferring
toorallypresentedpoetryasfloral”(cf.Lord1985:327).
Thesequestionshavealwaysbeenverytrickyonestodealwithinthe
contextofmedievalliteraturesinceithasalwaysbeenknowntobeaunique
productofthecoexistenceoforalandliterateculture,merginginavery
specificway.Thus,thehistoryoforalformulaicstudiesinthemedieval
contextisthehistoryofthesuccessivegenerationsofscholarstryingto
dealconclusivelywiththeaboveissues.
Itseemsthatthefirstscholarconcernedwithmedievalstudieswho
recognizedthepotentialexistingintheemergenceoftheoral-formulaic
theorywasRuthCrosby,who,inherarticletitledflOralDeliveryinthe
MiddleAges”publishedinSpeculumin1936,arguedthecasefortheoral
modeofpresentationofthemedievalromancesonthebasisoftextual
evidencecentredmostlyaroundtheanalysisoftheaddressestotheaudi-
encepresentinthepoems(cf.Crosby1936:88-110).AlthoughCrosby’s
articlecontinuestoexertaninfluenceonmedievalists,theimmediatereac-
tiontoherfindingswasnotpositiveandnomajorcontinuationofher
workwasoffereduntilthe1950s(withthepossibleexceptionof
A.R.Dunlap,whopublishedanarticletitledflTheVocabularyofthe
MiddleEnglishRomancesinTail-RhymeStanza”in1941).
Despitethat,itisimportanttomentionherethatsomeprofoundly
importantworkonissuesrelatedtooral-formulaicstudieswereconducted
by,forexample,AugustBrink,whostudiedindetailthevocabularyofthe
poemsoftheAlliterativeRevival,whilesomeotherseminalworkwasdone
ontheconventionalphrasesusedinthealliterativeworksoftheMiddle
Englishperiod7byJ.P
.Oakdeninhistwo-volumeAlliterativePoetryin
7AlthoughthevalidityoftheexpressionflMiddleEnglishperiod”admittedlyimposes
somearbitrarinessonstudiesofmedievalEngland,itisneverthelessanincreasinglyimpor-
tantcaesuraformedievalistsdealingwithoral-formulaicstudiesorstudiesofmedievalpo-
etics,asitsbeginningindicatesadramaticshifttowardsamarkedlymoreliterateculture,
andsothetermisusedbyBorroff(1962:43,48);Amodio(1994:12,15,18);Amodio
(2004:79,87,92,93,98,129,131,145);Amodio(2005:134,178).
