The Mexican Corrido: Formula and Theme in a Ballad Tradition

Abstract

MILMAN PARRY'S CONVERSION to an oral-formulaic perspective in the course of his Homeric studies, coupled with his field observations of the living Serbo-Croatian epic, enabled him to produce a systematic theory of the formulaic character of literature originating in an oral tradition. The dissemination of this theory, largely accomplished by Parry's student and coworker, Albert B. Lord, ultimately precipitated what has been called "a revolution in scholarly opinion."