That the art of the market pitcher may be variously designated a "folk discourse genre", "verbal art", or "occupational ritual", is indicative of the descriptive and definitional problems presented by this occupationally-based form of traditional expressive performance. Indeed, one is tempted to suspect that the historical neglect of this unquestionably folkloric phenomenon by British folklorists may be connected to the generic ambiguity of the form itself alongside the canonically restricted scope of British folklore scholarship.
This paper will suggest that market pitching might be most profitably approached from a dramaturgical perspective. Indeed, it may be considered equatable with folk drama as recently defined by Roger Abrahams and Thomas A. Green among others. It takes place in an essentially theatrical context created by the pitcher's manipulation of merchandise and costume and the management of a spatially and visually bounded arena in which performance is staged. Like the mummers' play, pitching involves performing behaviour which is stylised, mimetic and presentational rather than realistic.