Oral-Formulaic Theory: Annotated Bibliography

William R. Watters. Formula Criticism and the Poetry of the Old Testament. Beiheft zur Zeitschrift für alttestamentliche Wissenschaft, 138. Berlin: Walter de Gruyter.

Begins with a review of the history of oral-formulaic studies, in particular formulaic diction, and of the discovery of word-pairs in Semitic studies. Finds word-pairs "the dominating element of formulaic Hebrew poetry" (p. 40), but notes that they occur in both oral and written material. Discusses the role of word-pairs in transmission and composition (pp. 60-80), in the creativity of poets (pp. 81-91), and with respect to the poetic line (pp. 92-116, with a direct comparison to the Homeric epithet). Considers the usefulness of formulaic criticism in dating, authenticating, relating, and repairing texts. Concludes generally that the various formulaic theories require "a number of alterations before they fit the textual evidence and could be justly called a methodology" (p. 146), but that they nonetheless open up new ways to relate and emend texts and to understand the poetic meter.
Area: BI, HB, AG, CP