The Singer of Tales by Albert Bates Lord

This edition includes a CD containing the original audio recordings of all the passages of heroic songs quoted in the book, and a video publication of the kinescopic filming of the most valued of the singers, and selected photographs taken during the Milman Parry's collecting trips in the Balkans. Top page

Complete description

This 40th anniversary edition of Albert Lord's classic work includes a CD containing the original audio recording of all the passages of heroic songs quoted in the book; a video publication of the kinescopic filming of the most valued of the singers; and selected photographs taken during Milman Parry's collecting trips in the Balkans. Parry began recording and studying a live tradition of oral narrative poetry in order to find an answer to the age-old Homeric question: how had the author of the "Iliad" and "Odyssey" composed these two monumental epic poems at the very start of Europe's literary tradition? Parry's, and with him Lord's, enduring contribution - set forth in Lord's "The Singer of Tales" - was to demonstrate the process by which oral poets compose. Now reissued with a new introduction and an audio and visual record, this book should be of interest to those interested in the art and craft of oral literature. Top page

General info

Publisher & Imprint: Harvard University Press

Edition details 2nd Revised edition

City: Cambridge, Mass

Edition: REV

Pages: 352

More info: height 235 mm width 155 mm weight 572 gr thickness 24 mm

Top page

Age recommended: College/higher education

Subject Indexing & Classification Dewey: 809.1 Library of Congress Subject: Epic poetry

Record updated at: 10 May, 2012 time: 00:58

Summary The Singer of Tales Part I. The Theory 1. Introduction 2. Singers: Performance and Training 3. The Formula 4. The Theme 5. Songs and the Song 6. Writing and Oral Tradition Part II. The Application 7. Homer 8. The Odyssey 9. The Iliad 10. Some Notes on Medieval Epic Appendices Notes Index Top page

Add your comment

Add a review - Highlight this book to a friend

Please login or register to send your review

Top page