Oral-Formulaic Theory: Annotated Bibliography

Elisabeth M. Jeffreys. "The Later Greek Verse Romances: A Survey." In Byzantine Papers: Proceedings of the First Australian Byzantine Studies Conference, Canberra, 17-19 May 1978. Ed. by Elizabeth M. Jeffreys and Ann Moffatt. Canberra: Humanities Research Centre, pp. 116-27.

After a review of approaches to these texts and comparative research into the traditions, she suggests that "examination of the vernacular romances and other works in early demotic in terms of an oral-formulaic style promises to bring helpful insights into the genesis of both the language and the literature" (124). Cautions, however, that one must avoid generalizations and pay careful attention to the idiosyncratic nature of the Byzantine romances and to the manuscripts in which they are found.
Area: BG