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4.Theimpactoftheclassicoralformulaictheoryonmedievalstudies...
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andMiddleEnglishAlliterativePoetry”andpublishedinSpeculumin
1957)andAlbertC.Baugh(titledflImprovisationintheMiddleEnglish
Romance”andpublishedinProceedingsoftheAmericanPhilosophical
Societyin1959)soughttoextendtheanalysisofformulaicstructures,
conductedaccordingtotheLordandParrytheory,tothepoetryofthe
MiddleEnglishperiod.
Despitethissolidcriticalworkitwasnotuntilthe1970sthatthecase
forthemostlyoral-formulaiccharacterofthemedievalromancegained
recognitionwithmostscholars.Thiswas,infact,incontrastwiththe
argumentinfavouroftheoral-formulaiccharacterofthegenreoftheepic
whichseemstohavebeenatleastimplicitlyacceptedbyspecialistssuch
asCecilBowraorC.S.Lewis.ThusBowradiscussestheissueinthechapter
onflTheTechniqueofComposition”inhisseminalworkHeroicPoetry
(cf.Bowra1952:215-253)whileLewisintroduceshisdistinctionbetween
theprimaryandsecondaryepic,acceptingParry’sviewontheHomeric
poemsinhisPrefaceto“ParadiseLost”(cf.Lewis1942:12-39).
Alsotheballadcriticsprovedquitereceptivetotherefinedunder-
standingoftheoralmodesofliteraryproductionandthestudytobe
mentionedinthiscontextmaybethatofG.H.GerouldtitledTheBallad
ofTraditionandfirstpublishedin1932.Theauthorproducesanincisive
andsustainedargumentasregardsthespecificnatureoforalliterature,
anditsintrinsicworthisconsiderable,althoughtheimplicitassumption
aboutoralitybeingexclusivelyafeatureoftheflunlearned”,flpopular”
traditionwillnowseemverydated,especiallyasregardsthemedieval
context,wheretheneedforamoreincisiveapproachhasbeenwelldemon-
strated.
Indeed,whilebythe1960sthebibliographyconcerningthegenreof
romancehadalreadybeenimpressiveandalotofthecriticalworkdone
onmanyaspectssuchastheevolutionofmotifs,narrativetechniquesand
theculturalcontexthasprovedunrivalledinscholarshipuntilthepresent,
itisalsotruethattheissuesrelatingtothequestionoforalityinthecontext
ofthegenredidnotreceivetheattentiontheywouldenjoylateron.Of
themostimpressiveexamplesofromancestudiespublishedinthefirst
halfofthetwentiethcenturyonewouldhavetomentionEpicandRomance
byW
.P
.Ker(1896,1908),MedievalRomanceinEnglandbyLauraA.
Hibbard(1959),TheDevelopmentofArthurianRomancebyRogerSherman
Loomis(1963),TheMiddleEnglishRomancesoftheThirteenthandFour-
teenthCenturiesbyDieterMehl(1968),orTheRiseofRomancebyEugène
Vinaver(1971).
