Fragments and Meaning in Traditional Song: From the Blues to the Baltic

by Gerald Porter and Mary-Ann Constantine

This is a study of very short songs: pieces long perceived as 'fragments' or remnants of longer narrative texts, and dismissed as the by-products of a degenerative oral tradition. Coverage includes English, Welsh, Breton, American, and Finnish songs. The authors argue that the inherently metaphorical and connotative idiom of traditional song makes external critical notions of 'completeness' inappropriate: in practice, such pieces are rarely felt to...

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0197262880
• ISBN13: 9780197262887
• Release Date: October 2003
• Publisher: British Academy
• Length: 278 Pages
• Weight: 1.30 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 6.5" x 9.6"