FROM ORAL TRADITION TO POSTMODERN PLAYFULNESS: COMPARING NARRATIVE TECHNIQUES IN OLD ENGLISH POETRY AND POSTMODERN ENGLISH FICTION

This article compares narrative techniques in Old English oral poetry and postmodern English fiction. It investigates how formulaic, communal oral storytelling in works like Beowulf contrasts with fragmented, metafictional, ironic, and playful strategies in postmodern novels and short stories. The study highlights the transition from collective cultural memory to individual, self-reflexive narrative perspectives, showing how historical and cultural contexts shape the evolution of storytelling in English literature.