Encyclopedia of Early Modern History Online

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Ballad
(854 words)

The ballad is a genre of relatively short narrative verse texts, usually rhymed and often strophic, sometimes with refrains. A narrative generally presents an unusual occurrence in a teleological structure. This presentation may be serious, humorous, or ironic, and this superficial mode of presentation may contrast with the implicit purpose of the account. Although there are specific generic schemata of interpretation (e.g. moral instruction) that may encourage the reader to analyse the narrativ…

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Laufhütte, Hartmut and Böhm, Elisabeth, “Ballad”, in: Encyclopedia of Early Modern History Online, Editors of the English edition: Graeme Dunphy, Andrew Gow. Original German Edition: Enzyklopädie der Neuzeit. Im Auftrag des Kulturwissenschaftlichen Instituts (Essen) und in Verbindung mit den Fachherausgebern herausgegeben von Friedrich Jaeger. Copyright © J.B. Metzlersche Verlagsbuchhandlung und Carl Ernst Poeschel Verlag GmbH 2005–2012. Consulted online on 19 March 2024 <http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/2352-0272_emho_SIM_017299>
First published online: 2015
First print edition: 20160321



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