Dr. Justin Arft

To me, this book represents one of the most important advancements of Milman Parry's and Albert Lord's seismic contributions to Homeric scholarship, in particular their theory of oral composition. Great strides had been made in proving that Homer's epics were performed orally and that their composition was highly complex and structured as a result, but Foley's focus on what - and how - these epics mean allowed us to see their tremendous artistry that emerged not from a single, genius, literate author, but from a community of singers and audiences who retained and created these massive works of art through song and collective memory. Foley spent much of his career refining these ideas, but Immanent Art broke that ground by introducing his idea of "traditional referentiality" that guides my own work and remains influential in the field today.