Abstract
As the South Slavic oral epic originated in a primary oral culture – a culture that is unaffected by literacy – and as it is composed through repertorial formulas and themes, it may find itself subject to misunderstanding by literary minds, particularly through accusations of mechanical composition. This paper aims to argue that an idea of “fixity,” with regards to the South Slavic oral epic’s formulas and themes, is flawed when one considers the culture from whence it came. I examine the necessity of formulaic repetition in the South Slavic oral culture of the 1930s-1950s, arguing that, without literacy and the possibility of record making, repetition was the only method through which their history and culture could be preserved.
 Drawing from Albert Lord’s study of the South Slavic oral epic, this paper establishes that while still existing in a primary oral culture, South Slavic poets interiorize formulas and themes until they are synonymous with reflexive speech. In order to demonstrate this, this paper explores the way in which a South Slavic boy learns to perform. I examine John Miles Foley’s delineation of the South Slavic decameter, which the South Slavic boy must learn as the foundation of all future lines of verse. I also demonstrate the efficiency of this foundation by studying substitution systems in epic verse; the mastery of substitution results in an instantaneous composition of song that is only possible through the interiorization of its elements.
 This paper then considers the term homeostasis, which in the case of this verse, refers to the obsolescence of irrelevant cultural matter. Using a case study, I analyze a singer’s substitution of obsolete themes and formulas with ones of then-contemporary relevance, arguing that the formulas easily adapt to change. The South Slavic oral epic is thus not mechanical, but a naturalized art form.
Highlights
The art of the oral epic has long suffered generalizations from the literary academe, which once assumed that the cultures from which oral epics came possessed a verbatim memory similar to their own (Ong 57)
This paper concerns itself with the oral epic prior to literacy making an effect on South Slavic culture; the body of material being examined is the repertoire of oral epics studied by Milman Parry and Albert Lord during their fieldwork in former Yugoslavia in the 1930s, and 1940s and 1950s respectively
I do not concern my analysis with contemporary South Slavic singers who have carried on the tradition because, their communities influenced by literacy, their means of learning the traditional art may have changed
Summary
The art of the oral epic has long suffered generalizations from the literary academe, which once assumed that the cultures from which oral epics came possessed a verbatim memory similar to their own (Ong 57). Let us examine why formula and theme reoccur (and are deemed "fixed") by analyzing them and by considering how each helps the South Slavic singer compose the oral epic.
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