| Commentary: |
Snow 1977, no. 206: "Densely written and persuasively reasoned argument against the Arabic-origins theories, principally those of Ribera (1912, 1922). The Latin conductus and the vernacular lyric are similar in both metrical and strophic form, and some are even similar melodically. S. favors a sociological approach to the debate; he posits the adaptation of closer European (e.g., Latin) models for the birth of the Romance lyric. His study shows the zéjel to have little in common with the virelai, especially as in the CSM. The Arabists' theories strain belief, first and foremost because they are unnecessary, and then because they are insufficiently supported by evidence." |
