THE BALLADS
Un riassunto riguardante le varie tipologie di ballate e le aree di diffusione e provenienza (scritto in lingua inglese). (1 pagine formato doc)
Most writers on the form distinguish three kinds of ballad: traditional, literary and popular ballad.
The traditional ballad is a song, transmitted orally, commenting on life by telling a story in popular style. The story is told in flashes and each stanza embodies a separate passage of dialogue or a distinct scene. There are sudden narrative shots, vivid dreamlike images. There are also refrains, repetitions and stock descriptive phrases. The stanza has four lines (ABCB). The literary ballad is written by a learned poet. Some of those ballads belong to the Romantic period. The popular ballad is the product of a literate or at least a semi literate urban population..