Oral-Formulaic Theory: Annotated Bibliography

Ruth H. Webber. Formulistic Diction in the Spanish Ballad. University of California Publications in Modern Philology, 34, no. 2:175-277.

Looks at the formulaic frequency in the Primavera collection of Spanish ballads under the headings of (1) introduction (general, to dialogue, to action), (2) dialogue (salutations, miscellaneous), (3) action, (4) adjectival, (5) adverbial, and (6) the remainder. Notes that the couplet is the basic unit of thought and that verse-final assonance influences the frequency and choice of formulas. Shows how formulas in the romancero "express the essential ideas and acts of balladry in such a way as to fill out the requisite line length and supply the required assonance" (213). Also studies repetition and parallelism both within the line and over more than one line. Considers the impact of formulaic analysis on problems of origin, dating, transmission, and the like. Views composition and performance, in accordance with the Parry-Lord model, as the same process "of combining remembered terms rather than reciting from memory" (253). Also champions traditional diction as more than mechanical by seeing the poet as selecting from time-tried expressions of beauty as well as of usefulness. The first application of Parry-Lord theory to Hispanic verse.
Area: HI, FB