LIFE-CYCLE RITES OF PASSAGE IN ROMANIAN EPIC
VERONICA DEMENESCUABSTRACT. Beissinger examines narrative patterns in a Romanian epic song cycle in order to offer possible models for the further study of oral storytelling in the New Testament. Hyun Kim presents the “total topography” of the mindsets of Russian peasants through the laments and rituals of their wedding and funeral ceremonies. Beissinger holds that the relationships between text and music are fundamental to understanding oral composition, and analyze the relationships between units of textual and melodic structure in the epic song repertoires of six contemporary Romanian traditional singers. (pp. 140–144)