Overview

Francis James Child, compiler and editor of the monumental English and Scottish Popular Ballads, established the scholarly study of folk ballads in the English-speaking world. His successors at Harvard University, notably George Lyman Kittredge, Milman Parry, and Albert B. Lord, discovered new ways of relating ideas about sung narrative to the study of epic poetry and what has come to be called-though not without controversy-""oral literature."" In this volume, sixteen distinguished scholars from Europe and the United States offer original essays in the spirit of these pioneers. The topics of their studies include well-known ""Child Ballads"" in their British and American forms; aspects of the oral literatures of France, Ireland, Scandinavia, medieval England, ancient Greece, and modern Egypt; and recent literary ballads and popular songs. Many of the essays evince a concern with the theoretical underpinnings of the study of folklore and literature, orality and literacy; and as a whole the volume reestablishes the European ballad in the wider context of oral literature. Among the contributors are Albert B. Lord, Bengt R. Jonsson, Gregory Nagy, David Buchan, Vesteinn Olason, and Karl Reichl.

Full Product Details

Author:   Joseph C. Harris
Publisher:   Harvard University Press
Imprint:   Harvard University Press
Volume:   17
Dimensions:   Width: 14.00cm , Height: 2.30cm , Length: 21.00cm
Weight:   0.408kg
ISBN:  

9780674060463

ISBN 10:   0674060466
Pages:   368
Publication Date:   01 August 1991
Audience:   College/higher education ,  Professional and scholarly ,  Undergraduate ,  Postgraduate, Research & Scholarly
Format:   Paperback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   Out of stock  
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Table of Contents

"Introduction Joseph Harris Technique, Text, and Context: Formulaic Narrative Mode and the Question of Genre Fleming G. Andersen Popular Modes of Narration and the Popular Ballad Hugh Shields Talerole Analysis and Child's Supernatural Ballads David Buchan The Historical Moorings of ""The Gypsy Laddie"": Johnny Faa and Lady Cassillis Sigrid Rieuwerts The Americanization of Scottish Ballads: Counterevidence from the Southwest of Scotland William B. McCarthy Parity of Ignorance: Child's Judgment on ""Sir Cohn"" and the Scottish Verdict ""Not Proven"" Emily Lyle Literary Backgrounds of the Scandinavian Ballad Vesteinn Olason Oral Literature, Written Literature: The Ballad and Old Norse Genres Bengt R. Jonsson Tradition and Innovation: The Influence of Child Ballads on the Anglo-American Literary Ballad Natascha Wurzbach Cultural Diglossia and the Nature of Medieval Latin Literature Jan Ziolkowski Song and Dance: Reflections on a Comparison of Faroese Ballad with Greek Choral Lyric Gregory Nagy Ring Composition in Maldon; or, a Possible Case of Chiasmus in a Late Anglo-Saxon Poem Albert B. Lord The Middle English Popular Romance: Minstrel versus Hack Writer Karl Reichl Grakappan (AT 425) as Chapbook and Folktale in Sweden Stephen A. Mitchell The Interplay of Genres in Oral Epic Performance: Differentially Marked Discourse in a Northern Egyptian Tradition Dwight Reynolds"

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Author Information

Joseph C. Harris is Francis Lee Higginson Research Professor Emeritus of English at Harvard University.

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