Oral-Formulaic Theory: Annotated Bibliography

Eugene Vance. "Notes on the Development of Formulaic Language in Romanesque Poetry." In Mélanges offerts à René Crozet à l'occasion de son soixante-dixième anniversaire, vol. 1. Ed. Pierre Gallais and Yves-Jean Riou. Poitiers: Société d'Etudes Médiévales. pp. 427-34.

Sees the formulaic language of the Chanson de Roland and late twelfth-century courtly lyric as serving two entirely different intellectual attitudes. In the OF epic, formulaic diction polarizes the world of the poem and actions take place under a stylistic aegis, while the lyric describes a world where knowledge is more important than style.
Area: OF