The Renaissance epic and the oral past

The Renaissance epic and the oral past

by Anthony Welch

Part of Yale studies in English

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This volume explores why Renaissance epic poetry clung to fictions of song and oral performance in an age of growing literacy. 16th- and 17th-century poets, Anthony Welch argues came to view their written art as newly distinct from the oral cultures of their ancestors.

Discussion questions for The Renaissance epic and the oral past

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  1. 1

    How does the act of reading or listening to a story change when the storyteller deliberately pretends to be singing out loud rather than writing on a page?

  2. 2

    Why do you think Renaissance epic poets felt a persistent nostalgia or attachment to the oral traditions of their ancestors, even as literacy rates and printed books were rapidly transforming society?

  3. 3

    In your own life, what modern forms of media or communication do you notice clinging to older, outdated formats or aesthetics just to feel more authentic?

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