The 33 essays that make up this volume examine the history of literature in performance from five perspectives: (1) language, (2) popular culture, (3) teaching, (4) theory, and (5) entertainment. The essays in the first section explore the basic perspective of oral performance as a factor in the development of languages themselves and their subsequent literatures. The second section's essays complement the previous section's emphasis on the role of poets and literary craftsmen through its own emphasis on the influence of the laity on popular culture. Essays in section 3 describe the historical development in the United States of the academic study of literature in performance as well as some changes within and extensions beyond its predominantly classroom focus. Historical samples of another side of academic research--the proliferation of theories of communication involving literature in performance--are examined in section 4. The essays in the fifth and final section give evidence of some surviving instances of the performance of literature in professional entertainment. (JL)