Street Ballads in Nineteenth-Century Britain, Ireland, and North America

Name: Street Ballads in Nineteenth-Century Britain, Ireland, and North America
Brand: Taylor & Francis

Taylor & Francis

In recent years, the assumption that traditional songs originated from a primarily oral tradition has been challenged by research into \u2019street literature\u2019. Not only are some traditional singers known to have learned songs from printed sources, but most of the songs were composed by professional writers. This volume engages with the long-running debate over the origin of traditional songs by examining street literature\u2019s interaction with and influence on oral traditions. > In recent years, the assumption that traditional songs originated from a primarily oral tradition has been challenged by research into \u2019street literature\u2019 - that is, the cheap printed broadsides and chapbooks that poured from the presses of jobbing printers from the late sixteenth century until the beginning of the twentieth. Not only are some traditional singers known to have learned songs from printed sources, but most of the songs were composed by professional writers and reached the p.