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Introduction à la poésie orale
in8. 1983. broché. 307 pages.
307 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1983
48 people want to read
About the author
Paul Zumthor
75 books6 followersPaul Zumthor, CQ (August 5, 1915 – January 11, 1995) was a medievalist, literary historian and linguist. He was Swiss-born, from Geneva.
He studied in Paris with Gustave Cohen, and worked on French etymology with Walther von Wartburg. In studying medieval French poetry, he formulated the concept of mouvance (variability). He also emphasised "vocality" in medieval poetry, the place of the human voice.
He held two major professorial positions, at the University of Amsterdam from 1952 and at the Université de Montréal from 1971 to 1980, when he became emeritus. In 1992, he was made a Knight of the National Order of Quebec.
He studied in Paris with Gustave Cohen, and worked on French etymology with Walther von Wartburg. In studying medieval French poetry, he formulated the concept of mouvance (variability). He also emphasised "vocality" in medieval poetry, the place of the human voice.
He held two major professorial positions, at the University of Amsterdam from 1952 and at the Université de Montréal from 1971 to 1980, when he became emeritus. In 1992, he was made a Knight of the National Order of Quebec.
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
January 12, 2020
I wanted to say something about L'Epopee by Daniel Madelenat edited under the collection de PUF Presses Universitaires de France, PUF Litteratures modernes but the book is not present on Goodreads list so I have to do with this one which doesn't anyway go too too far from the matter in hand. The review from Times Educational Supplement about the book is a good one
Paul Zumthor, being a mediavist, very world-known is in a position to talk about oral poetry and prticularlz about its origin after having dedicated his life of study into Mediaeval literature , particularly French, and Western mediaeval literature. He ponpoints clearly in chapters abour the overwhelming power of the voice, of that divine voice of the Creator that became in the latter part of the Middle Ages the Divine Locutor and then the compilaton-scriptor- author. It has that Voice which has become partialised since that we haven-t in Europe at the leat the Western one the works of the oral epics. For the oral epics we need global compact chronotope, space-time in which an over-whelmong Voice can exercice his power, that og magician, equal to the shaman-s. It is the culure that we have to deal here. The world of epics belong to different kind of society, those of aural beginings that connects the present to the night of time., from which the myth emerges. Epics have proved live in peripharal and southern parts of Europe where historical situation linked people to their past as means of preserving their identity and in Asia and Africa from which Zumthor himself derived examples of study from his stays and interactions with poets-griots. They made him realise after his knowledge of the the Middle ages about what kind of need incited people to preseve their poetry - reliance of the spoken word rhe Voic
Zumthor takes into account the research and critique and interpretation of oral poetry world-wide and their achievemtnt into the field. Particularly he is a lucid critic of Parry-Lord theory which had revolutioned and is still doing its effect in the theory of oral literature mainly in mediaval and contemporary lyric oral productions.
Paul Zumthor put to his test his theory in his contemporary mass society circle , putting to test different kind of persons and how thez are attentive to memory , how they are able to preserve and how long poems they were able to learn and and how they stuck in their memory or only chanted in refrains.
The workis interesting as to invite researchers among very young to study and go into the depth of problems of originality and tradition that overwhelming voice exercises his authority. IHe puts into fore with Roman Jakobson and Bogatiriev, taking from Saussure parole and langue quality of individual instances and tradition
And to draw parallel to L'Epopee of the beginning of this review, te oral epic ceased to be interesting even to be read as the culure the world is the world of fragmentation as well as that of immediate and lived moment. Ours is the world of minute and disintegrated polzphonic matter that relies on splits of truths, multiple truths not an overwhelming one
Paul Zumthor, being a mediavist, very world-known is in a position to talk about oral poetry and prticularlz about its origin after having dedicated his life of study into Mediaeval literature , particularly French, and Western mediaeval literature. He ponpoints clearly in chapters abour the overwhelming power of the voice, of that divine voice of the Creator that became in the latter part of the Middle Ages the Divine Locutor and then the compilaton-scriptor- author. It has that Voice which has become partialised since that we haven-t in Europe at the leat the Western one the works of the oral epics. For the oral epics we need global compact chronotope, space-time in which an over-whelmong Voice can exercice his power, that og magician, equal to the shaman-s. It is the culure that we have to deal here. The world of epics belong to different kind of society, those of aural beginings that connects the present to the night of time., from which the myth emerges. Epics have proved live in peripharal and southern parts of Europe where historical situation linked people to their past as means of preserving their identity and in Asia and Africa from which Zumthor himself derived examples of study from his stays and interactions with poets-griots. They made him realise after his knowledge of the the Middle ages about what kind of need incited people to preseve their poetry - reliance of the spoken word rhe Voic
Zumthor takes into account the research and critique and interpretation of oral poetry world-wide and their achievemtnt into the field. Particularly he is a lucid critic of Parry-Lord theory which had revolutioned and is still doing its effect in the theory of oral literature mainly in mediaval and contemporary lyric oral productions.
Paul Zumthor put to his test his theory in his contemporary mass society circle , putting to test different kind of persons and how thez are attentive to memory , how they are able to preserve and how long poems they were able to learn and and how they stuck in their memory or only chanted in refrains.
The workis interesting as to invite researchers among very young to study and go into the depth of problems of originality and tradition that overwhelming voice exercises his authority. IHe puts into fore with Roman Jakobson and Bogatiriev, taking from Saussure parole and langue quality of individual instances and tradition
And to draw parallel to L'Epopee of the beginning of this review, te oral epic ceased to be interesting even to be read as the culure the world is the world of fragmentation as well as that of immediate and lived moment. Ours is the world of minute and disintegrated polzphonic matter that relies on splits of truths, multiple truths not an overwhelming one
Displaying 1 of 1 review