Toward a theory of interpretation

A selected review of speech communication studies in the arts: A retrospective and prospective look

“…Historical studies were needed to fill in the considerable gaps in the knowledge about the nature and practice of oral interpretation. Veilleux (1969) felt this lack of a complete historical account deprived the field of a firm tradition, thus contributing to a confusion in theory. Whitaker (1973) wanted these historical investigations to deal with literary performance, aesthetic and literary theories.…”

“…For among the suggestions for a revival of the oral tradition (Beloof, 1969;Veilleux, 1969;Whitaker, 1973), there were people who saw other disciplines such as anthropology, folklore, and literary history (Thompson, 1973) and sociolinguistics, folklore, and literary criticism (Fine and Speer, 1977) as aiding in this endeavor. In 1981, Hopkins and Long also suggested study of writers performing their own work and of storytellers.…”

“…Veilleux (1969) said oral interpretation had a social contribution to make. Beloof (1969) warned teachers not to view students as performers only, but rather as people sharing in a process of learning how to make the poetic sentient again.…”