The ballad
Characteristics of the ballad (1 pagine formato doc)
Definition: simple, popular song telling a story.
A narrative poem, often sung with a musical instrument.
Historical background → origins: France and Spain – sung by minstrels travelling from village to village; after 1066: arrival in England – great success in the late Middle Ages, especially in Scotland.
Features: anonymous, first transmitted orally and only later recorded in some manuscript.
Narrative technique: a dramatic narrative dealing with a single episode, situation or scene. The story is told through dialogue, in rapid flashes, without any attention to the psychology or physical appearance of characters. Characters = stylized heroes and heroines. Narrator → impersonal attitude, no comments or moralising on the events described.
Structure: a four-line stanza followed by a refrain ( = repetition of a line or a set of words) which helped memorization of the text.
Rhyme scheme: not fixed, but generally a b c b or a b a b
Language: concrete and simple, full of repetitions, formulae ( = ideas expressed in identical words) and stock phrases ( = commonplace words with no precise meaning). Use of incremental repetition = a rhetorical device used to advance the story.
Themes: tragic love, war, violence, adventure, betrayal, supernatural or sensational events.
Sources: The material is taken from community life, local and national history, legends and folklore.
Historical background → origins: France and Spain – sung by minstrels travelling from village to village; after 1066: arrival in England – great success in the late Middle Ages, especially in Scotland.
Features: anonymous, first transmitted orally and only later recorded in some manuscript.
Narrative technique: a dramatic narrative dealing with a single episode, situation or scene. The story is told through dialogue, in rapid flashes, without any attention to the psychology or physical appearance of characters. Characters = stylized heroes and heroines. Narrator → impersonal attitude, no comments or moralising on the events described.
Structure: a four-line stanza followed by a refrain ( = repetition of a line or a set of words) which helped memorization of the text.
Rhyme scheme: not fixed, but generally a b c b or a b a b
Language: concrete and simple, full of repetitions, formulae ( = ideas expressed in identical words) and stock phrases ( = commonplace words with no precise meaning). Use of incremental repetition = a rhetorical device used to advance the story.
Themes: tragic love, war, violence, adventure, betrayal, supernatural or sensational events.
Sources: The material is taken from community life, local and national history, legends and folklore.