Author: Johansen, Thomas
Title: An Experiment with Oral Transmission
Description: Copenhagen, Royal School...Librarianship, 1993. orig.wrappers. 24x17cm, 154 pp. Minor rubbing, VG. ¶ ...The present work is a report of an experiment the purpose of which has been to identify the rules determing the development in a story transmitted orally a number of times, from one person to another...one of the most important changes in the development occurs when an element of the story is forgotten. That will not, however, neccessarily influence the following reproductions at once. But sooner or later, a participant will feel that the logical succession of elements is broken and consequently he/she will introduce a new element as a substitute for the one which is felt to be lacking. By this procedure we can say that the story has been modified as a consequence of 'disconnected elements'. As a contrast, two elements can be so closely related to each other that they so to say play the role of synonyms. Here only one of them is normally expressed explicitly. Furthermore, the so-called 'influential elements' should be mentioned, i.e. elements which are introduced by chance but which nevertheless are able to influence the succession of events ..." [Danmarks Biblioteksskole 'Press Release', November 1993]

Keywords: Literary Transmission, Oral Literature, Folklore, Criticism, Sociology, , , ,