Oral-Formulaic Theory: Annotated Bibliography

Ramón Menéndez Pidal. "La Epica medieval en España y en Francia." Comparative Literature, 4:97-117. Rpt. in his En torno al Poema del Cid. Barcelona: Editora y Distribuidora Hispano Americana, 1963. pp. 67-94.

A study of the differences between Spanish and French medieval epic in terms of (1) modes of preserving and using history, (2) versification, and (3) the ephemeral nature of Spanish epic as opposed to the more permanent literary nature of OF. Finds that the Spanish epic emphasizes historical accuracy at the expense of literary verisimilitude but remains alive longer in oral tradition than the French.
Area: HI, OF, CP