_____________________________________________________________ Volume 14 March 1999 Number 1 _____________________________________________________________ Editor Editorial Assistants John Miles Foley Michael Barnes Lori Garner Associate Editor Scott Garner John Zemke Rachel Haverstick Heather Hignite Marjorie Rubright Aaron Tate Slavica Publishers, Inc. For a complete catalog of books from Slavica, with prices and ordering information, write to: Slavica Publishers, Inc. Indiana University 2611 E. 10th St. Bloomington, IN 47408-2603 ISSN: 0883-5365 Each contribution copyright (c) 1999 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. To enter a subscription, please contact Slavica Publishers at the address given above. 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, 316 Hillcrest Hall, University of Missouri, Columbia, MO 65211. Printed in the United States of America. EDITORIAL BOARD Patricia Arant Ruth Finnegan Brown University Open University Russian African, South Pacific Samuel Armistead Donald K. Fry University of California/Davis Poynter Institute Hispanic, comparative Old English Ilhan Başgöz Lee Haring Indiana University Brooklyn College, CUNY Turkish African Richard Bauman Joseph Harris Indiana University Harvard University Folklore Old Norse Franz H. Bäuml Melissa Heckler Univ. of Cal./Los Angeles New York Storytelling Center Middle High German Storytelling Roderick Beaton Dell Hymes King’s College London University of Virginia Modern Greek Native American, Linguistics Dan Ben-Amos Elizabeth Jeffreys University of Pennsylvania University of Sydney Folklore Byzantine Greek Daniel Biebuyck Michael Jeffreys University of Delaware University of Sydney African Byzantine Greek Robert P. Creed Minna Skafte Jensen Univ. of Mass./Amherst Univversity of Copenhagen Old English, comparative Ancient Greek, Latin Robert Culley Werner Kelber McGill University Rice University Biblical Studies Biblical Studies Joseph J. Duggan Robert Kellogg University of Cal./Berkeley University of Virginia French, Spanish, comparative Old Germanic, comparative Alan Dundes Victor Mair University of Cal./Berkeley University of Pennsylvania Folklore Chinese Mark W. Edwards Nada Milošević-Djordjević Stanford University University of Belgrade Ancient Greek Serbo-Croatian EDITORIAL BOARD Stephen Mitchell Burton Raffel Harvard University University of Southwestern Scandinavian Louisiana Translation Michael Nagler Univ. of Cal./Berkeley Alain Renoir Ancient Greek, Sanskrit, Univ. of Cal./Berkeley comparative (Emeritus) Old Germanic, Old French Gregory Nagy comparative Harvard University Ancient Greek, Sanskrit, Bruce A. Rosenberg comparative Brown University Folk narrative, Medieval Joseph Falaky Nagy literature Univ. of Cal./Los Angeles Old Irish Joel Sherzer University of Texas/Austin Jacob Neusner Native American, Anthropology Brown University Hebrew, Biblical Studies Dennis Tedlock SUNY/Buffalo Felix J. Oinas Native American Indiana University Finnish, Russian J. Barre Toelken Utah State University Isidore Okpewho Folklore, Native American University of Ibadan (Nigeria) African, Ancient Greek Ronald J. Turner Univ. of Missouri/Columbia Walter J. Ong Storytelling St. Louis University Hermeneutics of orality and Michael Zwettler literacy Ohio State University Arabic Svetozar Petrović University of Novi Sad Serbo-Croatian, Critical Theory Contents Editor’s Column.......................................................................................... 1 Martin S. Jaffee Oral Tradition in the Writings of Rabbinic Oral Torah: On Theorizing Rabbinic Orality ......................................................3 Steven D. Fraade Literary Composition and Oral Performance in Early Midrashim ........................................................................33 Yaakov Elman Orality and the Redaction of the Babylonian Talmud.................... 52 Elizabeth Shanks Alexander The Fixing of the Oral Mishnah and the Displacement of Meaning ...............................................100 Dan Ben-Amos Jewish Folk Literature .................................................................140 About the Authors ...................................................................................275 Editor’s Column The first number of volume 14 opens with a new emphasis for Oral Tradition. Devoted entirely to Jewish traditions, it examines the interplay of orality and text across the centuries from the foundation of sacred writings (and sayings) through to the present day. The initial group of essays focuses on the Oral Torah, a problematic term that has received many contradictory explanations. Martin Jaffee sets the scene for this exchange, outlining the collective presentation in three sections. After a brief orientation to Rabbinic literature aimed at the diverse readership of Oral Tradition, he considers the symbolic value of orally transmitted learning in Rabbinic culture and moves toward a juxtaposition of current studies in oral tradition with extant Rabbinic texts. Three colleagues then explore some of the specific directions that Jaffee maps out. Steven Fraade explains how literary composition and oral performance—Written and Oral Torahs—are not mutually exclusive but necessarily interactive. For his part, Yaakov Elman argues in favor of the oral composition and transmission of the Babylonian Talmud. Finally, Elizabeth Shanks Alexander explains how methodologies evolved in studies of other oral traditions can help to solve otherwise puzzling problems in the transmission and stability of the Mishnah. Partnered to this small symposium is a rich and magisterial essay by Dan Ben-Amos on “Jewish Folk Literature.” Taking as his subject nothing less than the broad and heterogeneous expanse of Jewish folklore from the Biblical period to the present, Ben-Amos patiently and carefully unravels a Gordian knot of research and scholarship, providing hundreds of references to sources in a variety of languages. This essay should prove a locus classicus for folklorists, literary specialists, and comparatists for many years to come, and we are proud to be publishing it in Oral Tradition. Let me also take a moment to welcome aboard John Zemke, Associate Professor of Romance Languages, as assistant editor. A specialist in Hispanic and particularly in Sephardic oral traditions, Professor Zemke has been of enormous help in preparing the present issue and will be playing a prominent role in the editing of the journal from this point forward. Forthcoming issues, primarily in the “miscellaneous” mode for the next year, will feature articles on areas as divergent as Coptic, Black English, ancient Greek, Persian romance, medieval English and French, Japanese, Native American, Celtic folklore, and Toni Morrison’s Paradise. In the works is a special issue on Contemporary Criticism and Studies in Oral Tradition (Mark Amodio, editor). As ever, we welcome your submissions and your subscriptions with equal and genuine enthusiasm, and look forward to new and exciting developments within our shared field. John Miles Foley, Editor Center for Studies in Oral Tradition 316 Hillcrest Hall University of Missouri Columbia, MO 65211 USA Telephone: 573-882-9720 Fax: 573-884-5306 e-mail: [email protected] Oral Tradition, 14/1 (1999): 3-32 Oral Tradition in the Writings of Rabbinic Oral Torah: On Theorizing Rabbinic Orality Martin S. Jaffee Introduction By the tenth and eleventh centuries of the Common Era, Jewish communities