The Singer of Tales in Performance - Softcover

Foley, John Miles

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0253209315 ISBN 13: 9780253209313

Publisher: Indiana University Press, 1995

Synopsis

"A great book... " -- Choice

"... a groundbreaking work of scholarship... "  -- Asian Folklore Studies

"This extremely fascinating study opens an important chapter in the ethnography of speech, briliantly confirming the views advanced by Dell Hymes, Albert Lord and Richard Baumann." -- The Journal of Indo-European Studies

Building on his work in Traditional Oral Epic and Immanent Art, John Foley dissolves the perceived barrier between "oral" and "written," creating a composite theory from oral-formulaic theory and the ethnography of speaking and ethnopoetics.

"...a groundbreaking work of scholarship that clears the path for solving the perennial problem of the interpretation of oral-derived texts. The book will be of immense value to students of folklore and literature, and to those seriously interested in the interface of the two traditionally divided disciplines." -- Asian Folklore Studies

About this title

From the Back Cover:

Both living oral traditions and texts with roots in oral tradition share a context in which the speaker performs for an audience, either real or implied. John Foley argues that the methods and strategies of traditional oral expression-of 'the singer of tales'-persist into the realm of texts. This study dissolves the perceived barrier between 'oral' and 'written', creating a composite theory from oral-formulaic theory and the ethnography of speaking and ethnopoetics. Foley highlights both the idiom of the oral work, which is at once traditional and individual, and the realm of performance, which gives 'the tale' its expressive force.

About the Author:

JOHN MILES FOLEY is William H. Byler Distinguished Professor of English and Classical Studies at the University of Missouri and director of the Center for Studies in Oral Tradition. He is author of The Theory of Oral Composition, Traditional Oral Epic, and Immanent Art, and founding editor of the journal Oral Tradition.

About this edition

• Publisher: Indiana University Press
• Publication date: 1995
• ISBN 10: 0253209315
• ISBN 13: 9780253209313
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 235