Hearing Homer's song: the brief life and big idea of Milman Parry
(Book)
"The first full biography of "the Darwin of Homeric Studies"--arguably the most influential classical scholar of the twentieth century--who overturned the long entrenched notions of ancient epic poetry and expanded the very idea of literature. In the early 1930s, Milman Parry introduced the hypothesis that the Iliad and the Odyssey were not "written" as we understand it, but derived from an oral tradition going back centuries. It was a revolutionary theory, but quickly accepted, and its effects are stillfelt in contemporary scholarship. But Parry himself has all but disappeared from view. Now, Robert Kanigel gives us a full and vivid account of his life: of his childhood in Oakland, California, in the early years of the century; his time as part of the "progressive set" at Berkeley; his marriage at twenty-one to the woman he'd gotten pregnant; their journey to Paris where he attends the Sorbonne, discovering the pleasures of the city--and the duties of fatherhood and marriage; his appointment to Harvard;and his two extended stays in Yugoslavia where he believed he could prove his theories definitively by studying the contemporary singers of long unwritten regional epics. Kanigel explores the mystery surrounding Parry's death at 33, and describes how, inthe ensuing years, what began as a way to understand the Homeric epics became the new field of "oral theory," which continues to be applied to everything from Beowulf to jazz improvisation, from the Old Testament to the latest hip-hop"--
Notes
Kanigel, R. (2021). Hearing Homer's song: the brief life and big idea of Milman Parry. First edition. New York, Alfred A. Knopf.
Chicago / Turabian - Author Date Citation (style guide)Kanigel, Robert. 2021. Hearing Homer's Song: The Brief Life and Big Idea of Milman Parry. New York, Alfred A. Knopf.
Chicago / Turabian - Humanities Citation (style guide)Kanigel, Robert, Hearing Homer's Song: The Brief Life and Big Idea of Milman Parry. New York, Alfred A. Knopf, 2021.
MLA Citation (style guide)Kanigel, Robert. Hearing Homer's Song: The Brief Life and Big Idea of Milman Parry. First edition. New York, Alfred A. Knopf, 2021.
Record Information
| Last Sierra Extract Time | Apr 10, 2024 02:30:40 AM |
|---|---|
| Last File Modification Time | Apr 10, 2024 02:31:36 AM |
| Last Grouped Work Modification Time | Apr 10, 2024 02:30:46 AM |
MARC Record
| LEADER | 02949pam 2200385 i 4500 | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| 001 | BK0026847554 | ||
| 003 | DLC | ||
| 005 | 20210422142706.5 | ||
| 008 | 200825s2021 nyua e b 001 0beng | ||
| 010 | |a 2020038085 | ||
| 020 | |a 9780525520948|q (hardcover) | ||
| 020 | |a 0525520945 | ||
| 037 | |b Random House Inc, Attn Order Entry 400 Hahn rd, Westminster, MD, USA, 21157|n SAN 201-3975 | ||
| 040 | |a DLC|b eng|e rda|c DLC|d IMmBT|d WD | ||
| 050 | 0 | 0 | |a PA85.P33|b K36 2021 |
| 082 | 0 | 0 | |a 880.092 |
| 082 | 0 | 0 | |a B|2 23 |
| 092 | |a 880.0920 | ||
| 100 | 1 | |a Kanigel, Robert,|e author. | |
| 245 | 1 | 0 | |a Hearing Homer's song :|b the brief life and big idea of Milman Parry /|c Robert Kanigel. |
| 250 | |a First edition. | ||
| 264 | 1 | |a New York :|b Alfred A. Knopf,|c 2021. | |
| 300 | |a 320 pages :|b illustrations ;|c 25 cm | ||
| 336 | |a text|b txt|2 rdacontent | ||
| 337 | |a unmediated|b n|2 rdamedia | ||
| 338 | |a volume|b nc|2 rdacarrier | ||
| 500 | |a "This is a Borzoi Book." | ||
| 504 | |a Includes bibliographical references (pages 271-306) and index. | ||
| 520 | |a "The first full biography of "the Darwin of Homeric Studies"--arguably the most influential classical scholar of the twentieth century--who overturned the long entrenched notions of ancient epic poetry and expanded the very idea of literature. In the early 1930s, Milman Parry introduced the hypothesis that the Iliad and the Odyssey were not "written" as we understand it, but derived from an oral tradition going back centuries. It was a revolutionary theory, but quickly accepted, and its effects are stillfelt in contemporary scholarship. But Parry himself has all but disappeared from view. Now, Robert Kanigel gives us a full and vivid account of his life: of his childhood in Oakland, California, in the early years of the century; his time as part of the "progressive set" at Berkeley; his marriage at twenty-one to the woman he'd gotten pregnant; their journey to Paris where he attends the Sorbonne, discovering the pleasures of the city--and the duties of fatherhood and marriage; his appointment to Harvard;and his two extended stays in Yugoslavia where he believed he could prove his theories definitively by studying the contemporary singers of long unwritten regional epics. Kanigel explores the mystery surrounding Parry's death at 33, and describes how, inthe ensuing years, what began as a way to understand the Homeric epics became the new field of "oral theory," which continues to be applied to everything from Beowulf to jazz improvisation, from the Old Testament to the latest hip-hop"--|c Provided by publisher. | ||
| 600 | 1 | 0 | |a Parry, Milman. |
| 650 | 0 | |a Classicists|z United States|y 20th century|v Biography. | |
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