Treść książki
Przejdź do opcji czytnikaPrzejdź do nawigacjiPrzejdź do informacjiPrzejdź do stopki
8
I.TheMethodologicalBackground
docontributetotheversatilityofthediscipline,alsomakeitnecessaryto
definestrictlyandnarrowlythemethodologicalapparatusaswellasthe
precisescopeandobjectiveofeachnewworkundertakenintheextensive
criticaltradition.
Itwillbethusnecessarytodefinetheprecisemeaningofthemostbasic
termslikefloral”,flliterate”orflformula”,whichhaveprovedtobesuch
ausefulvehicleforconveyingsomanydivergentideasandopinionsthat,
havingbeenworkedonandremodeledbysomanyminds,theyteemwith
soverymanypotentialshadesofmeaningthatanyoneattemptingtheir
useunderacademicconditionsmustprovideverypreciseramifications
whicharetobeappliedthroughoutanysustainedstudy.
Thecomplexityofthetaskismadenoeasierbythefactthatawork
likethepresentonemustofnecessitybestridetwobasicfieldsofresearch,
whichhadinfact,beencarriedoutmoreorlessindependentlyuntilsome
fortyyearsago.Consequently,somegapsandinconsistenciesundoubtedly
existincertainaspectsofthetreatmentofthepoetictextbetweenthe
oral-formulaicstudiesontheonehandandromancecriticismontheother.
Thisisanaturalresultofthefactthatoral-formulaicstudieswerenot
originallydevelopedinthecontextofthemedievalromance,orinfactin
thecontextofmedievalliteratureassuch.Infactithasbeenfrequently
observedbyscholarsfrombothsidesofthescholarlydividethatthe
literatureoftheMiddleAges,whileitisdefinitelyoneinwhichallques-
tionsrelatingtotheoppositionandcoexistenceoftherespectivemodes
oforalityandliteracyarevitallyimportantfortheunderstandingofits
mostbasicnature,isalsoonewhichoffersthemostdifficultyintackling
allissuesrelatingtothisareaofstudy.
Hencethepresentchapterwillfirstprovideahistoricalsketchoutlining
thedevelopmentoforal-formulaicandromancestudies,andsubsequently
itwillproceedtoatheoreticaldiscussionwhichwilldefinethemethodo-
logicalframeworkadoptedforthepurposesofthestudyhereundertaken.
Wewillmakeeveryeffortheretoprovideacomprehensiveoverviewof
thecriticalworkpursuedintherelevantareas,butatthesametimeto
focusmostonthosestudieswhichhavethemostrelevancetotheargument
conductedinthefollowingchapters.Thereforeanecessarilysubjective
perspectivewillbesometimesadoptedinthefollowingreview.
Thereasonfortreatingjointlythetwofrequentlyindependentdisci-
plinesoforal-formulaicandromancestudiesisdesignedtopresentthe
developinginterrelationsbetweenthetwobranchesinthecourseofthe
lastcentury.
