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Ring composition is a narrative technique said to be characteristic of preliterate peoples. In ring composition, a narrator touches on a number of topics till a significant topic is reached, then continues on in the narrative by retracing in reverse order the topics which were mentioned on the way to the significant point. Ring composition is an important element in Homeric epic, in the Hebrew scriptures and in many other traditional texts that show signs of being composed orally. [1]
- ^ Mary Douglas, Thinking in circles: An essay on ring composition, Yale Univ. Press, 2007
