Third, I employ a variety of methods from folklore studies and cultural anthropology to illustrate the way in which medieval littérateurs relied on manuscripts to prepare for oral performance. As such, I join a group of researchers that has argued against the so-called great divide theory—that paper-based technologies inevitably displace oral performance. 11 The great divide theory has the drawback of giving technology a determinative role in shaping knowledge and society, de-emphasizing the agency of people who perhaps might use those technologies to serve emerging goals rooted in their specific class, age, ethnicity, gender, and ideology. This book explores the ways in which individuals and groups use both oral and written modes of communication together to achieve social and political goals.