Oral-Formulaic Theory: Annotated Bibliography

Maurice Delbouilleuille. "Le Chant héroïque serbo-croate et la genese de l a chanson de geste." Boletín de la Real Academia de Buenas Letras de Barcelona, 31:83-98.

After a review of oral theory and the SC analog (citing mainly Rychner 1955, Lord 1960, and Braun 1961), together with a comparison of OF and SC epic m eters, he argues against too facile an assumption of equivalence. Denies the proposed origin of OF chansons de geste in the preliterate compositions of jongleurs, seeing this theory as a variant of the "collective genius of the people" fallacy, and advoc ates a line of written development similar to that of the contemporary prose hagiographies.
Area: OF, SC, CP