Table of Contents

Preface; Part I. The Oral Literature of the Tatars: 1. Introduction; 2. Heroic poetry and saga; 3. The heroic milieu; 4. Non-heroic poetry and saga; 5. Historical and unhistorical elements in heroic poetry and saga; 6. Poetry and saga relating to gods and spirits, and mantic poetry; 7. Antiquarian poetry and saga relating to unspecified individuals; 8. The texts; 9. Recitation and composition; 10. The shaman; Part II. The Oral Literature of Polynesia: 11. Introduction; 12. Saga and poetry relating to the migration period and to later periods; 13. Non-heroic saga and poetry relating to legensary characters of the prehistoric and later periods; 14. Saga and poetry relating to divine beings, and mantic poetry; 15. Saga and poetry relating to unspecified individuals; 16. Dramatic and ritual poetry; Antiquarian, gnomic and descriptive literature; 17. Recitation and composition; 18. The tohunga, kaula, etc.; Part III. Notes on the Oral Literature of Some African Peoples: 19. Introduction to Part III; 20. Abyssinia; 21. The galla; 22. The northern bantu; 23. The yoruba; 24. The tuareg; Part IV. A General Survey: 25. Written and oral literature; 26. The distribution of literary types; 27. Heroic and non-heroic; 28. Heroic narrative poetry; 29. Poetry and saga relating to unspecified individuals; 30. Theological literature; 31. Antiquarian learning; 32. Gnomic and descriptive literature; 33. Mantic literature; 34. Recitation and composition; 35. Authorship; Postscript; Index.

Reviews

'The Chadwicks are the modern parents of the organised approach to comparative literature ... The growth of Literature is a work that is not, probably could not be, superseded.' International Journal of Comparative Sociology