Oral-Formulaic Composition
Encyclopedia
The theory of oral-formulaic composition originated in the scholarly study of epic poetry
, being developed in the second quarter of the twentieth century. It seeks to explain two related issues:
The key idea of the theory is poets have a store of formulas (a formula being 'an expression which is regularly used, under the same metrical conditions, to express a particular essential idea') and that by linking these in conventionalised ways, they can rapidly compose verse.
In the hands of Milman Parry
and Albert Lord
, this approach transformed the study of ancient and medieval poetry, and oral poetry
generally. The main exponent and developer of their approaches today is John Miles Foley
.
, and aids the aoidos or bard in extempore composition. Moreover, phrases of this type would be subject to internal substitutions and adaptations, permitting flexibility in response to narrative and grammatical needs: podas okus axilleus ("swift footed Achilles") is metrically equivalent to koruthaiolos ektor ("glancing-helmed Hektor"). Formulae could also be combined into type-scenes, longer, conventionalised depictions of generic actions in epic, such as the steps taken to arm oneself or to prepare a ship for sea.
could have been passed down through many generations purely through word of mouth, and why formulas appeared in it in the way that they did. His work was influential (see Homeric scholarship#Oral Theory and Homeric Question
). The locus classicus for oral-formulaic poetry, however, was established by the work of Parry and his student Albert Lord on the Serbian oral epic poetry of what was at the time part of Yugoslavia
, where oral-formulaic composition could be observed and recorded ethnographically. Formulaic variation is apparent, for example, in the lines
Lord, and more prominently Francis Peabody Magoun
, also applied the theory to Old English poetry (principally Beowulf
), where formulaic variation such as the following is prominent:
Magoun thought that formulaic poetry was necessarily oral in origin. This sparked a major and ongoing debate over the extent to which Old English Poetry—which survives only in written form—should be seen as, in some sense, oral poetry.
Epic poetry
An epic is a lengthy narrative poem, ordinarily concerning a serious subject containing details of heroic deeds and events significant to a culture or nation. Oral poetry may qualify as an epic, and Albert Lord and Milman Parry have argued that classical epics were fundamentally an oral poetic form...
, being developed in the second quarter of the twentieth century. It seeks to explain two related issues:
- the mechanism whereby some oral poets are able to improvise poetry; and
- why orally improvised poetry has the characteristics it does.
The key idea of the theory is poets have a store of formulas (a formula being 'an expression which is regularly used, under the same metrical conditions, to express a particular essential idea') and that by linking these in conventionalised ways, they can rapidly compose verse.
In the hands of Milman Parry
Milman Parry
Milman Parry was a scholar of epic poetry and the founder of the discipline of oral tradition.-Biography:He was born in 1902 and studied at the University of California, Berkeley and at the Sorbonne . A student of the linguist Antoine Meillet at the Sorbonne, Parry revolutionized Homeric studies...
and Albert Lord
Albert Lord
Albert Bates Lord was a professor of Slavic and comparative literature at Harvard University who, after the death of Milman Parry, carried on that scholar's research into epic literature.-Personal life:...
, this approach transformed the study of ancient and medieval poetry, and oral poetry
Oral poetry
Oral poetry can be defined in various ways. A strict definition would include only poetry that is composed and transmitted without any aid of writing. However, the complex relationships between written and spoken literature in some societies can make this definition hard to maintain, and oral...
generally. The main exponent and developer of their approaches today is John Miles Foley
John Miles Foley
John Miles Foley Is a scholar of comparative oral tradition, medieval and Old English Literature , Ancient Greek and Serbian epic. He is the founder of the academic journal Oral Tradition and the at the University of Missouri, where he is Curators' Professor of Classical Studies and English and...
.
Homeric verse as a source of examples
In Homeric verse, a phrase like eos rhododaktylos ("rosy fingered dawn") or oinops pontos ("winedark sea") occupies a certain metrical pattern that fits, in modular fashion, into the six-colon Greek hexameterHexameter
Hexameter is a metrical line of verse consisting of six feet. It was the standard epic metre in classical Greek and Latin literature, such as in the Iliad and Aeneid. Its use in other genres of composition include Horace's satires, and Ovid's Metamorphoses. According to Greek mythology, hexameter...
, and aids the aoidos or bard in extempore composition. Moreover, phrases of this type would be subject to internal substitutions and adaptations, permitting flexibility in response to narrative and grammatical needs: podas okus axilleus ("swift footed Achilles") is metrically equivalent to koruthaiolos ektor ("glancing-helmed Hektor"). Formulae could also be combined into type-scenes, longer, conventionalised depictions of generic actions in epic, such as the steps taken to arm oneself or to prepare a ship for sea.
The work of Parry and successors
Oral-formulaic theory was originally developed, principally by Milman Parry in the 1920s, to explain how the Homeric epicsHomeric epics
In the field of classics, the term "Homeric epics" refers specifically to the Iliad and Odyssey, two epics attributed to the Ancient Greek poet Homer...
could have been passed down through many generations purely through word of mouth, and why formulas appeared in it in the way that they did. His work was influential (see Homeric scholarship#Oral Theory and Homeric Question
Homeric Question
The Homeric Question concerns the doubts and consequent debate over the identity of Homer, the authorship of the Iliad and Odyssey, and historicity, especially of the Iliad...
). The locus classicus for oral-formulaic poetry, however, was established by the work of Parry and his student Albert Lord on the Serbian oral epic poetry of what was at the time part of Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia refers to three political entities that existed successively on the western part of the Balkans during most of the 20th century....
, where oral-formulaic composition could be observed and recorded ethnographically. Formulaic variation is apparent, for example, in the lines
- a besjedi od Orasca Tale ("But spoke of Orashatz Tale")
- a besjedi Mujagin Halile ("But spoke Mujo's Halil").
Lord, and more prominently Francis Peabody Magoun
Francis Peabody Magoun
Francis Peabody Magoun, Jr. MC was one of the seminal figures in the study of medieval and English literature in the 20th century, a scholar of subjects as varied as football and ancient Germanic naming practices, and translator of numerous important texts...
, also applied the theory to Old English poetry (principally Beowulf
Beowulf
Beowulf , but modern scholars agree in naming it after the hero whose life is its subject." of an Old English heroic epic poem consisting of 3182 alliterative long lines, set in Scandinavia, commonly cited as one of the most important works of Anglo-Saxon literature.It survives in a single...
), where formulaic variation such as the following is prominent:
- Hrothgar mathelode helm Scildinga ("Hrothgar spoke, protector of the Scildings")
- Beowulf mathelode bearn Ecgtheowes ("Beowulf spoke, son of Ecgtheow")
Magoun thought that formulaic poetry was necessarily oral in origin. This sparked a major and ongoing debate over the extent to which Old English Poetry—which survives only in written form—should be seen as, in some sense, oral poetry.
Further reading
- Foley, John Miles (ed. and trans.), An eEdition of The Wedding of Mustajbey’s Son Bećirbey as performed by Halil Bajgorić (2005), http://oraltradition.org/zbm.
- Lord, Albert B. The Singer of Tales. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1960 (there is also a second edition, edited by Stephen Mitchell and Gregory Nagy, Harvard Studies in Comparative Literature 24. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2000).
- Magoun, Francis P., Jr. “Oral-Formulaic Character of Anglo-Saxon Narrative Poetry”, Speculum, 28 (1953): 446–67.
- Parry, Milman. "Studies in the Epic Technique of Oral Verse-Making. I: Homer and Homeric Style." Harvard Studies in Classical Philology Vol. 41 (1930), 73–143.
- Parry, Milman. "Studies in the Epic Technique of Oral Verse-Making. II: The Homeric Language as the Language of an Oral Poetry." Harvard Studies in Classical Philology Vol. 43 (1932), 1–50.