_____________________________________________________________ Volume 2 January 1987 Number 1 _____________________________________________________________ Editor Editorial Assistants John Miles Foley Lee Edgar Tyler Patrick Gonder Nancy Hadfield Adam Davis 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) 1987 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 will appear three times per year, in January, May, and October. Annual subscription charges are $20 for individuals and $35 for libraries and other institutions. All manuscripts, books for review, items for the annual bibliography, and editorial correspondence should be directed to the editor, John Miles Foley, Department of English, University of Missouri, Columbia, MO 65211. Subscriptions and related inquiries should be sent to Slavica Publishers, P.O. Box 14388, Columbus, OH 43214. Printed in the United States of America. Contents Future issues of Oral Tradition Introduction 7 A Biographical Portrait of Walter Jackson Ong ...........................................................13 Selected Bibliography of Ong’s Writings ....................................................................19 I. The Word in Oral Tradition Eric A. Havelock The Cosmic Myths of Homer and Hesiod ....................................................................................................31 Albert B. Lord Characteristics of Orality ......................................................................54 Bruce A. Rosenberg The Complexity of Oral Tradition .........................................................73 John Miles Foley Man, Muse, and Story: Psychohistorical Patterns in Oral Epic Poetry .................................................................91 II The Written Oral Word Werner H. Kelber The Authority of the Word in St. John’s Gospel: Charismatic Speech, Narrative Text, Logocentric Metaphysics..................................................................... 108 Thomas J. Farrell Early Christian Creeds and Controversies in the Light of the Orality-Literacy Hypothesis................................... 132 Dennis P. Seniff Orality and Textuality in Medieval Castilian Prose. ...........................150 III. The Oral Word in Print Peter Sharratt Peter Ramus, Walter Ong, and the Tradition of Humanistic Learning .......................................................172 John G. Rechtien The Ramist Style of John Udall: Audience and Pictorial Logic in Puritan Sermon and Controversy ........................................................188 William J. Kennedy “Voice” and “Address” in Literary Theory ........................................214 Ruth El Saffar The Making of the Novel and the Evolution of Consciousness ....................................................231 Elias L. Rivers Two Functions of Social Discourse: From Lope de Vega to Miguel de Cervantes .......................................249 Robert Kellogg The Harmony of Time in Paradise Lost ...............................................260 Thomas J. Steele Orality and Literacy in Matter and Form: Ben Franklin’s Way to Wealth................................................... 273 IV. Orality and Literacy Paolo Valesio A Remark on Silence and Listening .....................................................286 Harold M. Stahmer Speech Is the Body of the Spirit: The Oral Hermeneutic in the Writings of Eugen Rosenstock-Huessy................................................. 301 Frans Jozef van Beeck Rahner on Sprachregelung: Regulation of Language? Of Speech? .................................................323 Randolph F. Lumpp Literacy, Commerce, and Catholicity: Two Contexts of Change and Invention ...............................................337 James M. Curtis Coming of Age in the Global Village ...................................................357 V. The Word and the Ongoing Discourse Walter J. Ong, S.J. Orality-Literacy Studies and the Unity of the Human Race..................................................................... 371 Books Received ......................................................................................................... 383 Future Issues of Oral Tradition 1987: ii (May) A special issue on Hispanic Balladry Edited by Ruth H. Webber Includes essays by Samuel G. Armistead, Diego Catalán, Manuel da Costa Fontes, Mercedes Díaz Roig, Beatriz Mariscal de Rhett, Suzanne H. Petersen, Antonio Sánchez Romeralo, Judith Seeger, Joseph H. Silverman, Maximiano Trapero, and Ana Valenciano 1987: iii (October) Victor Mair on Chinese oral narrative Mark Edwards on ancient Greek (Part II) Richard Swiderski on a South Indian oral tradition Alexandra Olsen on Old English (Part II) David Henige on the nomenclatures of orality Olga Davidson on Persian oral narrative Brynley Roberts on Welsh Annual Bibliography 1988: i (January) A special issue on Arabic Oral Traditions Edited by Issa Boullata Includes essays by Frederick M. Denny, R. Marston Speight, James T. Monroe, Muhsin Mahdi, Dwight F. Reynolds, Bridget Connelly and Henry Massie, H. T. Norris, Saad Abdullah Sowayan, Simon Jargy, Adnan Haydar, Dirgham H. Sbait, and Teirab AshShareef Introduction John Miles Foley When a literary scholar thinks of the contribution of Walter J. Ong, S.J. to the academic community, and beyond that to the generations of students and readers who have learned from his lectures and writings, one tends naturally to recall landmark books like The Presence of the Word, Interfaces of the Word, Orality and Literacy, and Hopkins, the Self, and God. His close relation, the scholar of oral traditions, will think of these same works and others, though probably from a slightly different perspective; for Walter Ong has in many ways liberated us from the cultural myopia he terms “chirographic bias,” made it possible for us to understand the world of orality from the inside and to “see” how that world is in part still with us. Readers of Oral Tradition will need no introduction to these aspects of Father Ong’s achievement, but they may be surprised, as I was, to learn that his writings have permanently affected numerous other major constituencies in the arts and sciences. As the present collection bears out, Ong is in dialogue not only with colleagues throughout the vast and expanding world of orality-literacy studies, but also with scholars in the areas of Biblical studies, linguistics, religion, theology, philosophy, sociology, pedagogical theory, popular culture, and English, French, Spanish, Italian, American, and comparative literature. In fact, depending on a reader’s training and métier, one or another section of this Festschrift will undoubtedly open up an entirely new vista on the honoree’s life’s work. To Randolph F. Lumpp goes the kudos for originally organizing the group of papers which appear herein. His insistence on providing an interdisciplinary testimony to Father Ong made for an immediate education of all those involved and, it is hoped, a continuing education for those who use this volume. Thomas J. 8 INTRODUCTION Farrell and Joseph Cirincione conceived the notion of having the Festschrift papers presented orally at a symposium, Questions of Orality and Literacy: A Tribute to Walter J. Ong, S.J. (July 29-August 1, 1985), which coincided with the seventy-fi fth anniversary of the founding of Rockhurst College, Ong’s undergraduate alma mater. All who attended that memorable event can vouch for its intensity and spirit of exchange, and are much in the debt of its organizers. It should also be noted that Tom Farrell has been of great assistance to many of the authors in discussing their papers,