Oral-Formulaic Theory: Annotated Bibliography

K. Kailasapathy. Tamil Heroic Poetry. Oxford: Clarendon Press.

Attempts (1) to apply the comparative method to a study of early Tamil poetry and (2) to compare Tamil with Homeric poetry in terms of the idea of a heroic age. Discusses and illustrates formulaic composition (pp. 135-86) and thematic structure (pp. 187-228) in Tamil. Also treats the portrait of the bard in various poetries (pp. 55-93) and the taxonomy of singers in Tamil (pp. 94-134). A very thorough philological examination, close in methodology to the Parry-Lord orthodoxy.
Area: IN, AG, CP