This collection investigates the structural patterns and underlying mechanisms that govern oral literature across diverse global cultures. The editors, Heda Jason and Dimitri Segal, compile research presented at the 1973 Conference on Structure in Oral Literature, held in conjunction with the 9th International Congress of Anthropological and Ethnological Sciences. The volume argues that oral traditions are not merely chaotic narratives but follow rigorous, identifiable structural frameworks that can be analyzed through comparative anthropological methods.

Experts recognize this volume as a significant archival record of structuralist approaches to folklore studies during the 1970s. Scholars frequently cite the text for its foundational role in establishing formalist methodologies within the field of cultural anthropology.