A new interdisciplinary interest has risen to study interconnections
between oral tradition and book culture. In addition to the use and
dissemination of printed books, newspapers etc., book culture denotes
manuscript media and the circulation of written documents of oral
tradition in and through the archive, into published collections. Book
culture also intertwines the process of framing and defining oral genres
with literary interests and ideologies. The present volume is highly
relevant to anyone interested in oral cultures and their relationship to
the culture of writing and publishing. The questions discussed include
the following: How have printing and book publishing set terms for oral
tradition scholarship? How have the practices of reading affected the
circulation of oral traditions? Which books and publishing projects have
played a key role in this and how? How have the written representations
of oral traditions, as well as the roles of editors and publishers,
introduced authorship to materials customarily regarded as anonymous and
collective?