Oral-Formulaic Theory: Annotated Bibliography

Duncan McMillan. "A propos de traditions orales." Cahiers de civilisation médiévale, 3:67-71.

On the basis of comparison with Gaelic oral tradition, and in particular with memorizing oral singers who place great value on the accurate preservation of a poem, he dismisses both the idea of a jongleur's manuscript and the theory of an evolving oral tradition of composition in performance for the OF romance. Envisions instead consciously conceived and executed OF poems which existed for a time without written records.
Area: OF, MI, CP