Oral Tradition in Literature: Interpretation in Context

As scholars discover the extent to which oral composition and transmission lie behind such works as the Bible, Homer's "Iliad" and "Odyssey", the Anglo-Saxon "Beowulf", the medieval Spanish "Poem of the Cid", the Old French "Song of Roland", the Middle English "Sir Gawain and the Green Knight", and many others, it has become crucial that we develop methods for reinterpreting these works.
In this ground-breaking collection of essays, a group of eminent scholars, including Walter Ong and Albert Lord, takes up the challenge of reinterpreting these and other works in the light of what has lately been learned about their origins in oral tradition, pondering questions that are becoming increasingly important to the study of world literature. How do we "read" works of literature whose roots are firmly planted in oral tradition? What difference does a work's orality make to its effective criticism, explanation, and study?
By exploring these questions, the six essays included in this volume recapture essential meaning in our most cherished religious and literary works, looking at them in contexts that have been lost for centuries, reinvigorating the works with their original verbal energy.