The Popular and Literary Ballad

elective courses

The course concentrates on the genre of the ballad in its two basic incarnations: as a product of the oral folk culture of the medieval and early Renaissance periods and as a literate genre pursued by professional poets since Romanticism. In its initial part the aim of the course is to familiarize the students with the basic methodology concerning the forms of literary activity which originate in the context of oral, or partly oral culture. At this stage the students are also introduced to a selection of the most distinctive specimens of the anonymous folk ballad texts. In the second part of the course the focus of attention is the literate form of the ballad as practiced by Romantic poets such as Wordsworth, Coleridge, Keats or Burns and the later 19th/20th century poets such as W.H. Auden, Dylan Thomas, W.B. Yeats, or Seamus Heaney.

The course concentrates on the genre of the ballad in its two basic incarnations: as a product of the oral folk culture of the medieval and early Renaissance periods and as a literate genre pursued by professional poets since Romanticism. In its initial part the aim of the course is to familiarize the students with the basic methodology concerning the forms of literary activity which originate in the context of oral, or partly oral culture. Here the reading draw upon the critical work of the likes of Albert Lord, John Miles Foley, Mary Carruthers or Mark Amodio. Featured also is criticism which relates specifically to the tradition and aesthetics of the ballad as an autonomous genre.

At this stage the students are also introduced to a selection of the most distinctive specimens of the anonymous folk ballad texts which have defined the overall ramifications of the genre and which have proved most influential for later generations of poets and scholars concerned with this type of literature. Thus the students are introduced to Tam Lin, Lord Randal, Thomas the Rhymer or The Two Sisters.

In the second part of the course the focus of attention is the literate form of the ballad as practiced by Romantic poets such as Wordsworth, Coleridge, Keats or Burns and the later 19th/20th century poets such as W.H. Auden, Dylan Thomas, W.B. Yeats, Seamus Heaney.

Lastly the student is familiarized with the American ballad tradition as practiced by Woody Guthrie and Bob Dylan. Credit for the course is awarded on the basis of an optional essay, or oral presentation.

Amodio, Mark (ed.). New Directions in Oral Theory. (Tempe, Arizona: Arizona Centerfor Medieval and Renaissance Studies, 2005).

Amodio, Mark (ed.). Oral Poetics in Middle English Poetry. (New York and London: Garland Publishing Inc., 1994).

Foley, John Miles. How to Read an Oral Poem. (Urbana and Chicago: University of Illinois Press, 2002).

Carruthers, Mary. The Book of Memory. A Study of Memory in Medieval Culture. (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1990).

Foley, John Miles (ed.). Oral-Formulaic Theory. A Folklore Casebook. (New York and London: Garland Publishing, 1990).

Foley, John Miles. Oral-Formulaic Theory and Research: An Introduction and Annotated Bibliography. (New York, Garland, 1985).

Foley, John Miles (ed.). Oral Tradition in Literature. Interpretation in Context. (Columbia: University of Missouri Press, 1986).

Foley, John Miles (ed.). Teaching Oral Traditions. (New York: Modern Language Association, 1998).

Foley, John Miles. The Theory of Oral Composition. (Bloomington and Indianapolis: Indiana University, 1988).

Lord, Albert B. "The Nature of Oral Poetry," in: Foley, John Miles (ed.). Comparative Research on Oral Traditions: A Memorial for Milman Parry. (Columbus, Ohio: Slavica Publishers Inc., 1985), pp. 313-337.

Lord, Albert B. "Oral Composition and 'Oral Residue'," in: Nicolaisen, W.F.H. (ed.). Oral Tradition in the Middle Ages. (Binghamton and New York: Medieval and Renaissance Texts and Studies, 1995), pp. 7-29.

Lord, Albert B. "Perspectives on Recent Work on Oral Literature," in: Foley, John Miles (ed.). Oral-Formulaic Theory. A Folklore Casebook. (New York and London: Garland Publishing, 1990), pp. 31-55.

Lord, Albert B. The Singer of Tales. (Cambridge, Massachusetts and London, England: Harvard University Press, 1960).

Knowledge

Students will be able to:

K_W02- understand key terminology, well established methods and theories of literary studies in the context of the ballad genre.

K_W03- describe methodology and recent developments in English literary studies in the context of the ballad genre.

K_W04- describe the relation between literature and historical and cultural processes on an advanced level in the context of the tradition of speculative fiction.

K_W07 - explain principles of designing literary studies, with special focus on selecting appropriate methods and tools in formulating research questions as relates to the context of the ballad genre.

Abilities

Students will be able to:

K_U01- employ the terminology and methodological tools from literary studies

K_U02- employ the methodology of literary studies within English studies, respecting the ethical norms and copyright law

K_U04- implement knowledge to describe a problem and identify means to solve it, thereby completing a project in literary studies

K_U11- design one’s own development

Social competences

Students will be ready to:

K_K02- undertake life-long learning and personal development, applying skills and competences to select subjects and projects optimally suiting one’s personal interests

K_K03- value responsibility for one’s own work and respect the work of others, adhering to the professional and ethical norms in various projects and other activities undertaken at work, voluntary services, etc.

Education at language level B2+.

- preparation and presentation of an individual project

- participation in discussions

3 absences are allowed.