Complete Issue

_____________________________________________________________ Volume 8 October 1993 Number 2 _____________________________________________________________ Editor Editorial Assistants John Miles Foley Dave Henderson Elizabeth P. McNulty Catherine S. Quick Slavica Publishers, Inc. For a complete catalog of books from Slavica, with prices and ordering information, write to: Slavica Publishers, Inc. P.O. Box 14388 Columbus, Ohio 43214 ISSN: 0883-5365 Each contribution copyright (c) 1993 by its author. All rights reserved. The editor and the publisher assume no responsibility for statements of fact or opinion by the authors. Oral Tradition seeks to provide a comparative and interdisciplinary focus for studies in oral literature and related fields by publishing research and scholarship on the creation, transmission, and interpretation of all forms of oral traditional expression. As well as essays treating certifiably oral traditions, OT presents investigations of the relationships between oral and written traditions, as well as brief accounts of important fieldwork, a Symposium section (in which scholars may reply at some length to prior essays), review articles, occasional transcriptions and translations of oral texts, a digest of work in progress, and a regular column for notices of conferences and other matters of interest. In addition, occasional issues will include an ongoing annotated bibliography of relevant research and the annual Albert Lord and Milman Parry Lectures on Oral Tradition. OT welcomes contributions on all oral literatures, on all literatures directly influenced by oral traditions, and on non-literary oral traditions. Submissions must follow the list-of reference format (style sheet available on request) and must be accompanied by a stamped, self-addressed envelope for return or for mailing of proofs; all quotations of primary materials must be made in the original language(s) with following English translations. Authors should submit two copies of all manuscripts. Most contributions will be reviewed by at least one specialist reader and one member of the editorial board before a final decision is reached. Review essays, announcements, and contributions to the Symposium section will be evaluated by the editor in consultation with the board. Oral Tradition appears twice per year, in March and October. Annual subscription charges are $18 for individuals and $35 for libraries and other institutions. All manuscripts, books for review, items for the bibliography updates, and editorial correspondence, as well as subscriptions and related inquiries should be addressed to the editor, John Miles Foley, Center for Studies in Oral Tradition, 301 Read Hall, University of Missouri, Columbia, MO 65211. Printed in the United States of America. EDITORIAL BOARD Patricia Arant Joseph J. Duggan Brown University Univ. of Cal./Berkeley Russian French, Spanish, comparative Samuel Armistead Alan Dundes University of California/Davis Univ. of Cal./Berkeley Hispanic, comparative Folklore Ilhan Bașgöz Mark W. Edwards Indiana University Stanford University Turkish Ancient Greek Richard Bauman Ruth Finnegan Indiana University Open University Folklore African, South Pacific Franz H. Bäuml Donald K. Fry Univ. of Cal./Los Angeles Poynter Institute Middle High German Old English Roderick Beaton Lee Haring King’s College, London Brooklyn College, CUNY Modern Greek African Dan Ben-Amos Joseph Harris University of Pennsylvania Harvard University Folklore Old Norse Daniel Biebuyck Melissa Heckler University of Delaware New York Storytelling Center African Storytelling Issa J. Boullata Dell Hymes McGill University University of Virginia Arabic Native American, Linguistics David E. Bynum Elizabeth Jeffreys Cleveland State University University of Sydney East European, comparative Byzantine Greek Robert P. Creed Michael Jeffreys Univ. of Mass./Amherst University of Sydney Old English, comparative Byzantine Greek Robert Culley Minna Skafte Jensen McGill University University of Copenhagen Biblical Studies Ancient Greek, Latin EDITORIAL BOARD Werner Kelber Felix J. Oinas Rice University Indiana University Biblical Studies Finnish, Russian Robert Kellogg Isidore Okpewho University of Virginia University of Ibadan Old Germanic, comparative African, Ancient Greek Victor Mair Walter J. Ong University of Pennsylvania St. Louis University (Emeritus) Chinese Hermeneutics of orality and literacy John S. Miletich Jeff Opland Las Vegas, Nevada Vassar College Spanish, Serbo-Croatian, African, Old English comparative D. Gary Miller Svetozar Petrović University of Florida University of Novi Sad Linguistics, Ancient Greek Serbo-Croatian, Critical theory Nada Milošević-Djordjević Burton Raffel University of Belgrade Univ. of Southwestern Serbo-Croatian Louisiana Translation Stephen Mitchell Alain Renoir Harvard University Univ. of Cal./Berkeley Scandinavian (Emeritus) Old Germanic, Old French, comparative Michael Nagler Bruce A. Rosenberg Univ. of Cal./Berkeley Brown University Ancient Greek, Sanskrit, Folk narrative, Medieval comparative literature Gregory Nagy Joel Sherzer Harvard University University of Texas/Austin Ancient Greek, Sanskrit, Native American, Anthropology comparative Joseph Falaky Nagy Dennis Tedlock Univ. of Cal./Los Angeles SUNY/Buffalo Old Irish Native American Jacob Neusner Jeff Todd Titon Brown University Brown University Hebrew, Biblical StudiesFelix Music EDITORIAL BOARD J. Barre Toelken Ruth Webber Utah State University University of Chicago Folklore, Native American (Emerita) Spanish, comparative Leo Treitler Michael Zwettler SUNY/Stony Brook Ohio State University Music Arabic Ronald J. Turner Univ. of Missouri/Columbia Storytelling Contents Editor’s Column...................................................................................... 223 Debra Wehmeyer-Shaw Rap Music: An Interview with DJ Romeo ...................................225 Thomas DuBois From Maria to Marjatta: The Transformation of an Oral Poem in Elias Lönnrot’s Kalevala .......................................247 Madeline Sutherland La fraticida por amor: A Sixteenth-Century Spanish Ballad in the Modern Oral Tradition ...........................................289 Miriam Youngerman Miller Isochrony in Old English Poetry: Two Performances of Credmon’s Hymn.............................................. 324 Mishael Maswari Caspi and Julia Ann Blessing “0 Bride Light of My Eyes”: Bridal Songs of Arab Women in the Galilee ..........................................................355 William Merritt Sale Homer and the Roland: The Shared Formular Technique, Part II .........................................................................381 Symposium (Deafness and Orality: An Electronic Conversation).......... 413 About the Authors ...................................................................................439 Index to Volume 8 ...................................................................................441 Editor’s Column What we might call the “bookends” to this second and final issue of Oral Tradition for 1993 represent a new direction for the journal. One of them consists of an interview with George Sutherlin, aka DJ Romeo, a traditional oral artist whose specialty is rap music. He responds to questions posed by Debra Wehmeyer-Shaw, their discussion covering such topics as the origins of rap, performance features, and “freestyling” (improvisation). At the other extremity of the present issue lies a transcribed performance of sorts, in this instance a group discussion of “Orality and Deafness” that was conducted on the electronic network ORTRAD-L sponsored by the Center for Studies in Oral Tradition at Missouri. This collective effort is presented substantially as it occurred, the only addition being informational notes to guide the reader. Within the fascinating and often bewildering mix of media that constitutes contemporary Western expressive and perceptual repertoires, we hope these two examples of (textualized) non-print, performance-based interactions shed some light on the complex processes associated with oral tradition. Within the bookends this issue’s potpourri includes contributions on Finnish, Hispanic, Anglo-Saxon, Arabic, Greek, and French traditions Thomas DuBois starts by confronting the knotty problem of the relationship between oral tradition and the individually crafted Kalevala of Elias Lönnrot. Another kind of transformation, that of a sixteenth-century Spanish ballad that has survived into modem oral tradition, provides the subject for Madeline Sutherland’s subsequent essay. Miriam Youngerman Miller then considers two modem reconstructions of how Beowulf might have been performed, employing a scientific measuring device to compare rival metrical theories. Bridal songs by Arab women in the Galilee are described and set in social context by Mishael Caspi and Julia Blessing Finally, William Sale closes his demonstration of the similarity of the formulaic techniques used by Homer and the poet of the Old French Chanson de Roland (Part I appeared in volume 8, i: 87-142). All in all, we trust that this heterogeneous selection fulfills OT’s commitment to maintain a broad comparative view. In our next issue, that perspective will be focused on the tremendous varietv and richness of African oral traditions. Special editor Lee Haring 224 EDITOR’S COLUMN has assembled a valuable collection of nine essays, plus his introduction, on topics as diverse as Chokwe storytelling, Igbo epic, Somali women’s poetry, and Hausa rap artists. Number 9, ii will

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