The Singer of Tales (Harvard Studies in Comparative Literature, 24)

This 40th anniversary edition of Albert LordÕs classic work includes a unique enhancement: a CD containing the original audio recordings of all the passages of heroic songs quoted in the book; a video publication of the kinescopic filming of the most valued of the singers; and selected photographs taken during Milman ParryÕs collecting trips in the Balkans. Parry began recording and studying a live tradition of oral narrative poetry in order to find an answer to the age-old Homeric Question: How had the author of the Iliad and Odyssey composed these two monumental epic poems at the very start of EuropeÕs literary tradition? ParryÕs, and with him LordÕs, enduring contribution--set forth in LordÕs The Singer of Tales--was to demonstrate the process by which oral poets compose. Now reissued with a new Introduction and an invaluable audio and visual record, this widely influential book is newly enriched to better serve everyone interested in the art and craft of oral literature.Albert B. Lord is the author of 'The Singer of Tales (Harvard Studies in Comparative Literature, 24)' with ISBN 9780674808812 and ISBN 0674808819.