Oral-Formulaic Theory: Annotated Bibliography

John S. Geary. Formulaic Diction in the Poema de Fernan González and the Mocedades de Rodrigo: A Computer-Aided Analysis. Studia Humanitatis. Madrid: Jose Porrua Turanzas.

In Chapter I he offers a review of relevant criticism on oral-formulaic theory as applied to Romance language traditions. Using Duggan's (1973a) methodology, he finds the MR approximately 14% formulaic and the PFG about 17% (pp. 24-25). Feels these figures place the two written (but in some respects traditional) poems nearer the romances studied by Duggan than the chansons de geste, and below his 20% threshold for orality. Analyses include formulas introducing dialogue (Chapter 2), formulas pertaining to battle (Ch. 3), and a comparative view of the overall formulaic repertoires of the MR and PFG (Ch. 4). On the basis of comparison with the Cid and other criteria, he finds the PFG more traditional: "the poet of the PFG, less removed in time from the age in which the popular epic is presumed to have flourished and before it reached its period of `decadence,' clearly integrated both the content and formulaic language of legendary material into a new mold," and in so doing "must have met the expectations of an audience accustomed to hearing such phrases" (pp. 113-14).
Area: HI, OF, CP