The Singer Of Tales In Performance

Foley, John Miles

ISBN 10: 0253209315 / ISBN 13: 9780253209313

Published by Indiana University Press, Bloomington, IN, 1995

About this Item

"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. Foley argues that the methods and strategies of traditional and 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." 235 pages; 6 x 9".

Seller Inventory # 5185

Bibliographic Details

• Title: The Singer Of Tales In Performance
• Publisher: Indiana University Press, Bloomington, IN
• Publication Date: 1995
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0253209315
• ISBN 13: 9780253209313
• Binding: Paperback
• Condition: fine
• Seller catalogs:
  • Folklore

About this title

Synopsis

"A great book... " -- Choice

"... a groundbreaking work of scholarship... "Â -- 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

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.