Oral-Formulaic Theory: Annotated Bibliography

Emile Dermenghem. "L'Epopée vivante au Sahara." In L'Epopée vivante, a special issue of La Table Ronde, 132:89-99.

An excellent brief overview of the various kinds of oral poetry practiced by Arab tribesmen in the Sahara. Makes the point that the poetry is performed in fragments, with a number of smaller genres, among them the goul (a short c adenced poem), nemm (a rhymed work sung by a professional poet), gueththa'a (an improvised poem about journey), zaghouia (a type of lyric), mounadara (a parallel dialogue), ghennaia (with the accompaniment of a stringed instrument), hadjoua (satire), mert hia or rethoua (funerary elegy), and madh or medha (panegyric). Notes that "cette poésie a conservé chez eux toutes ses vertus didactiques, mnémotechniques, incantatoires, apaisantes ou dynamiques" (p. 99).
Area: AR