Oral-Formulaic Theory: Annotated Bibliography

Donald Ward. "The Origin of the Ballad: Urban Setting or Rural Setting?" In Ballads and Ballad Research (Selected Papers of the International Conference on Nordic and Anglo-American Ballad Research, University of Washington, Seattle, May 2-6, 1977). Ed. Patricia Conroy. Seattle: University of Washington Press. pp. 46-57.

Believes there is enough evidence to infer that the oral tradition of the ballad emerged as early as the twelfth century in a new urban culture where the people demanded "new art and entertainment forms" (55), and where traveling musicians and "the urban trade centers were instrumental in the dissemination of the songs" (55).
Area: FB, CP