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Periodical article Periodical article Leiden University catalogue Leiden University catalogue WorldCat catalogue WorldCat
Title:The abstractness of formulaic expressions in traditional oral poetry
Author:Boadi, L.A.ISNI
Year:1990
Periodical:Paideuma
Volume:36
Pages:5-11
Language:English
Geographic term:Ghana
Subjects:Ashanti polity
oral poetry (form)
External link:https://www.jstor.org/stable/40732657
Abstract:In this article the author explains the source of the liberal use of set poetic expressions, or 'formulae', in oral poetry. An essential property of all formulae is their abstractness, which renders them applicable in an indefinite number of concrete situations. The formulaic technique is extensively used in most traditions of oral poetry. A number of hypotheses has been postulated to explain this ubiquity. The author uses data from 'Apaeč', poems recited by the 'Abrafoc' at the Asantehene's (ruler of Asante, Ghana) court on State occasions, to show that in selecting his epithets during performance, the oral poet-singer depends not just on syntactic-metrical frames as has been argued by some, but utilizes his knowledge of a relatively small number of options or linguistic rules to relate two levels, namely, the level of cognitive structure and the level of audible pronounceable form. App., bibliogr., notes, ref.
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