ABSTRACT
In a recent book on the interpretation of Older Germanic, in partic ular Old English, poetry in the light of "oral-formulaic theory," Alain Renoir has coined the term "oral formulaic rhetoric" to convey both the conventional nature and the stylistic effect of poetic diction. Renoir argues that the shift in emphasis from composition to style frees the study of earlier poetry from the controversial debate about its origin in either writing or oral performance: "...prospective interpreters of such ancient and mediaeval verse as reveals clearly oral-formulaic features might often do well to disregard the obviously tantalizing question of the actual mode of composition and to concentrate on the interpretation of the text within the context of attested rhetorical practices of the oralformulaic tradition regardless of whether the lines on the page were originally written in solitude or spoken before an audience."1 As regards orally performed Turkic epic poetry, its origin in an oral milieu is incontestable, although, as we saw in the last chapter, influences from written forms of the epics must be taken into account. When interpret ing Turkic oral epic poetry we do not need to establish its orality on the basis of its formulaic nature. Unlike the situation in medieval or classical literature, there is no "tantalizing question" about the mode of composition of this type of poetry, even if we would wish to have more detailed information on the composition and transmission of Turkic epic poetry than is at present available. It is reasonable to suppose that the presence of formulaic diction in Turkic oral epic poetry can be explained, as in other traditions, in terms of its oral composition and transmis-
sion. The various forms and levels of formulaic diction are certainly part of a singer's "art of memory." Formulaic diction is, however, not only a means to an end, but also an end in itself; whatever the original motivation for its genesis, it is the most salient stylistic trait of the epics as we have them. As a stylistic trait formulaic diction is an important element of textual structure; it is part of the conventions governing the oral epic and hence also part of the expectations the listeners bring to an epic performance. An understanding of Turkic oral epics as poetry would therefore be incomplete if attention were paid only to the functional aspect of formulaic diction, and its poetic effect as a stylistic phenomenon ignored.
