Posted by:
elee
(
)
Date: December 30, 2010 01:21PM
Yes, the culture in question does impact the tradition. The Qu'ran was memorized verbatim for very different reasons than, say, Beowulf or the Icelandic Sagas. The Qu'ran was literally believed to have been dictated by God, in God's perfect language. I.e., Arabic. No changes allowed. It isn't, strictly speaking, oral epic poetry.
This is vastly different than what we see happening with the Illiad, Enuma Elish, Chanson de Roland, El Cid, Beowulf, etc...
In these epics, the story would be broken down into a set list, if you will, of all the important scenes in the story which had to be touched upon. In addition to this, there are "lyrical elements" which fit within the meter of the prose which are used over and over again. (i.e., Swift Footed Achilles; or "battle sweat" for blood in Beowulf). These "epithets" are critical pieces of the story which call to mind specific characters or situations without having to use the same simple noun over and over again.
In other words, "memorized recitation" is used to create the bones of then story and the "bard", trained to utilize these forms, would infill judiciously depending on the audience at hand.
For a quick overview, you can check out the work of Millman Parry and Alfred Lord. This is a good thumbnail sketch:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oral_tradition