Oral-Formulaic Theory: Annotated Bibliography

William Whallon. Formula, Character, and Context: Studies in Homeric, Old English, and Old Testament Poetry. Publications of the Center for Hellenic Studies. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

Contends (1) that Homeric epithets are true to individual character (without questioning their usefulness); (2) that the epithets influenced overall characterization in the Iliad and Odyssey, in other words that "if the epithets were not usually determined by their contexts, they may now and then have determined those contexts" (p. 69); (3) that kennings for Beowulf often relate closely to their context but violate Parry's law of thrift or economy; (4) that the poetic diction of Beowulf had more continuity than is generally acknowledged with the Germanic or pre-Christian stories and ethos for which it served as a vehicle; (5) that OT poetic diction is largely traditional; and (6) that OT poetry "refers only vaguely to its context" (p. 185) and that "Jesus may be regarded as an oral poet because he used formulas that were to every appearance developed for the making of poetry in an oral culture, and also because the prose context of his poetry seems to say that he composed by ear and mouth rather than by eye and hand" (p. 208). An appendix suggests further directions in oral literature research.
Area: AG, OE, BI, HB, OF, CP