Though they appear diverse, Homer's Odyssey and slam poetry from contemporary urban America both draw from the well of oral tradition. This unique, practical, and user-friendly guide explores the cultural contexts of verbal art to provide more-than-textual methods for understanding the structure, principles, and social applications of oral poetry. Using dozens of examples, including a North American slam poet, a Tibetan paper-singer, a South African praise-poet, and an ancient Greek bard, John Miles Foley shows that although oral poetry long predates the invention of writing, it continues to...
Though they appear diverse, Homer's Odyssey and slam poetry from contemporary urban America both draw from the well of oral tradition. This unique, pr...
..". brief and readable... There is good tonic in these pages for the serious student of oral tradition... a remarkable book." --Asian Folklore Studies
"The bibliography is a boon for students and faculty at any level who are curious about the nature, composition, and performance of oral poetry." --Choice
"As ever, Professor Foley's conscientious scholarship and sound judgements combine to make a further substantial contribution to the field." --E. C....
..". excellent book... " --The Classical Outlook
..". brief and readable... There is good tonic in these pages for the serious student of ora...
John Miles Foley offers an innovative and straightforward approach to the structural analysis of oral and oral-derived traditional texts. Professor Foley argues that to give the vast and complex body of oral "literature" its due, we must first come to terms with the endemic heterogeneity of traditional oral epics, with their individual histories, genres, and documents, as well as both the synchronic and diachronic aspects of their poetics. Until now, the emphasis in studies of oral traditional works has been placed on addressing the correspondences among traditions--shared structures of...
John Miles Foley offers an innovative and straightforward approach to the structural analysis of oral and oral-derived traditional texts. Professor Fo...
Research is beginning to unearth the astounding wealth of oral traditions that have served as a vital cultural activity and verbal art for peoples throughout the world, from antiquity to the present. In this thirteenth volume of the MLA series Options for Teaching, forty-two scholar-teachers bring these discoveries and rediscoveries from the scholarly forum to the classroom.
The essays in this exciting field touch on more than a hundred traditions and draw from the methodologies of literary studies, folklore, anthropology, and linguistics. They are filled with vivid specifics. Among...
Research is beginning to unearth the astounding wealth of oral traditions that have served as a vital cultural activity and verbal art for peoples ...
A Companion to Ancient Epic presents for the first time a comprehensive, up-to-date overview of ancient Near Eastern, Greek and Roman epic. It offers a multi-disciplinary discussion of both longstanding ideas and newer perspectives.
A Companion to the Near Eastern, Greek, and Roman epic traditions
Considers the interrelation between these different traditions
Provides a balanced overview of longstanding ideas and newer perspectives in the study of epic
Shows how scholarship over the last forty years has transformed the ways that we...
A Companion to Ancient Epic presents for the first time a comprehensive, up-to-date overview of ancient Near Eastern, Greek and Roman epic. It ...
In recent decades, the evidence for an oral epic tradition in ancient Greece has grown enormously along with our ever-increasing awareness of worldwide oral traditions. John Foley here examines the artistic implications that oral tradition holds for the understanding of the Iliad and Odyssey in order to establish a context for their original performance and modern-day reception.
In Homer's Traditional Art, Foley addresses three crucially interlocking areas that lead us to a fuller appreciation of the Homeric poems. He first explores the reality of Homer as...
In recent decades, the evidence for an oral epic tradition in ancient Greece has grown enormously along with our ever-increasing awareness of world...
Beyond its importance as a literary work of unvarnished genius, Geoffrey Chaucer's unfinished epic poem is also one of the most beloved works in the English language-and for good reason: It is lively, absorbing, perceptive, and outrageously funny. But despite the brilliance of Chaucer's work, the continual evolution of our language has rendered his words unfamiliar to many of us. Esteemed poet, translator, and scholar Burton Raffel's magnificent new unabridged translation brings Chaucer's poetry back to life, ensuring that none of the original's wit, wisdom, or humanity is lost to the modern...
Beyond its importance as a literary work of unvarnished genius, Geoffrey Chaucer's unfinished epic poem is also one of the most beloved works in the E...
This ground-breaking volume gathers the best new work in Gospels criticism centered on how the Gospels actually came to be: through oral tradition, story performance, and cultural memory. Contributors include: John Miles Foley Martin Jaffee Jonathan A.Draper Ellen Aitken Holly Hearon Vernon K. Robbins Whitney Shiner Jan Assmann Jens Schroeter Richard A. Horsley."
This ground-breaking volume gathers the best new work in Gospels criticism centered on how the Gospels actually came to be: through oral tradition, st...
The major purpose of this book is to illustrate and explain the fundamental similarities and correspondences between humankind's oldest and newest thought-technologies: oral tradition and the Internet. Despite superficial differences, both technologies are radically alike in depending not on static products but rather on continuous processes, not on "What?" but on "How do I get there?" In contrast to the fixed spatial organization of the page and book, the technologies of oral tradition and the Internetmime the way we thinkby processing along pathways within a network. In both media it's...
The major purpose of this book is to illustrate and explain the fundamental similarities and correspondences between humankind's oldest and newest ...
The major purpose of this book is to illustrate and explain the fundamental similarities and correspondences between humankind's oldest and newest thought-technologies: oral tradition and the Internet. Despite superficial differences, both technologies are radically alike in depending not on static products but rather on continuous processes, not on "What?" but on "How do I get there?" In contrast to the fixed spatial organization of the page and book, the technologies of oral tradition and the Internetmime the way we thinkby processing along pathways within a network. In both media it's...
The major purpose of this book is to illustrate and explain the fundamental similarities and correspondences between humankind's oldest and newest ...
