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5.Thedevelopmentoforal-formulaicstudiesfromthe1970s
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formsofpoeticcomposition,italsosuffersfromaninherentloosenessof
criteriawherebyalotofusefulnormativeterminologymaynolongerbe
appliedwithoutanewequallyusefulmethodologicalvehiclebeingfirmly
inplace.
Whilethestudiesmentionedmayfallshortofexhaustivelydiscussing
theveryambitiousissuestheysetouttotackle,theirimportancefor
oral-formulaicstudiesisverysubstantial.Itseemsthatthemostimportant
achievementofthisparticularbranchofsuchstudiesliesinhighlighting
theneedforconstantlydeterminingtherelationshipbetweenthesocial
contextoforalpoetryanditsinherentpeculiarcharacteristicsasthestudy
ofthesephenomenahasalwaysbeenitsstrongpoint.Thus,whilean
ultimatetheoryofallincarnationsoforalitymayasyethaveeludedthe
scholarspursuingit,thevalueoftheirworkforstudieslikethepresent
oneisindeedcrucialasitallowsonetostudythedegreeandspecific
natureofthemodeoforalityaspresentinthevariousstagesofaliterary
work’sexistence,14whileatthesametimeitmakesitpossibletoseethe
reflectionofmutualrelationshipbetweenthosestagesinthepoetictext.
Alsothesometimesveryfluentattitudetothedefinitionoforalityallows
onetoaccountforalltheindirectwaysinwhichitmanifestsitselfin
aliterarywork,whichisespeciallyimportantinthecontextofmedieval
studies.
Whilesomescholarshaveinrecentdecadessoughttopursuethemore
theoreticalaimofforgingamorecomprehensive,flexibleandculture-
sensitiveoral-formulaictheory,othershavechosentopursueamorespecific
analysisofthevariousmanifestationsofthemodeoforalityinthelitera-
tureofspecificculturesandagesanditisthisworkthatprovidesthemost
immediatecontextfortheanalysisattemptedinthefollowingchapters.
HereoneneedstomentionpublicationssuchasMarkAmodio’sOral
PoeticsinMiddleEnglishPoetry(1994),orWritingtheOralTradition.Oral
PoeticsandLiterateCultureinMedievalEngland(2004).Aseditorofthe
firstofthese,Amodiodevelopsthecasefortheco-existenceofthemodes
oforalityandliteracyintheMiddleEnglishperiod(cf.Amodio1994:
2-28).Inthecontextofhiscomprehensivecriticaloverviewofprevious
workinthefieldAmodioaimsatnormalisingvariousaspectsofthis
approachaselaboratedonbyotherscholars.Attheheartoftheargument
pursuedbythecriticsliestheconvictionaboutthetransitionbetweenthe
14Finnegan(1992OralPoetry...:16-18)proposesjustthreestages:composition,trans-
missionandperformance.
