Written voices, spoken signs tradition, performance, and the epic text (Harvard University Press, 1997)
Papers originally presented at the CHS Colloquium held June 22-26, 1994 at the Center for Hellenic Studies in Washington, D.C.. - Master and use copy. Digital master created according to Benchmark for Faithful Digital Reproductions of Monographs and Serials, Version 1. Digital Library Federation, December 2002
Includes bibliographical references (p. 265-295) and index
Storytelling in the future: truth, time, and tense in Homeric epic / Egbert Bakker -- Writing the emperor's clothes on: literacy and the production of facts / Franz H. Bäuml -- Traditional signs and Homeric art / John Miles Foley -- The inland ship: problems in the performance and reception of Homeric epic / Andrew Ford -- Hexameter progression and the Homeric hero's solitary state / Ahuvia Kahane -- Similes and performance / Richard P. Martin -- Ellipsis in Homer / Gregory Nagy -- Types of orality in text / Wulf Oesterreicher -- The medial approach: a paradigm shift in the philologies? / Ursula Schaefer
The nine essays in this volume focus on performance and audience reception of oral poetry, inviting us to rethink some key concepts for an understanding of traditional epic poetry. Egbert Bakker examines the epic performer's use of time and tense in recounting a past that is alive. Tackling the question of full-length performance of the monumental Iliad, Andrew Ford considers the extent to which the work was perceived as a coherent whole in the archaic age. John Miles Foley addresses questions about spoken signs and the process of reference in epic discourse, and Ahuvia Kahane studies rhythm as a semantic factor in the Homeric performance. Richard Martin suggests a new range of performance functions for the Homeric simile. And Gregory Nagy establishes the importance of one feature of epic language, the ellipsis. These six essays centered on Homer engage with fundamental issues that are addressed by three essays primarily concerned with medieval epic: those by Franz Bäuml on the concept of fact; by Wulf Oesterreicher on types of orality; and by Ursula Schaefer on written and spoken media. In their Introduction the editors highlight the underlying approach and viewpoints of this collaborative volume. --From publisher's description