ORAL TRADITIONS (From a presentation by Dr. Adam Davis)
The purpose of the lecture was to provide some basic information on the features, purposes, and development of oral traditions as well as to briefly compare and contrast oral traditions with subsequent written traditions. Additionally, Dr. Davis traced some of the physical changes in man which accompanied and/or contributed to the development of verbal abilities and the systems of oral signification that occurred as a result of those changes.
(Not in order of importance) What is the difference between poetry and aesthetics? What are the differences between the oral tradition and the written? What are the characteristics of oral communications? What purposes do oral traditions serve? Where is study in the field moving?
Levi-Strauss, in The Cooked and the Raw, discusses the idea that what is acceptable to man as symbolic of humanity must be separated from that which is unacceptable, non-human, not fit for humans. In this way, man develops the idea of taboos, or that which must be rejected, set apart from the human. The use of fire ("cooked") developed at the same time as funeral rites and manipulation of symbols such as cave paintings. While taboos are not the same across all cultures, the concept of the existence of taboo is present in all cultures. All cultures must demarcate that which is acceptable and that which is not. Part of the function of oral tradition is to communicate to and remind the community of the traditions of the culture. Davis mentioned that the etymology of the words sacred and taboo (profane?) are closely related. [I would add that one of the significant aspects of the relationship between the sacred and the taboo is that in the creation of taboos, apart from any practical implications, the separation of the taboo from the person is often a way to move closer to the divinity. In Christianity, Julia Kristeva posits, the changes to theology and the use of taboo internalized many of the notions of the taboo, and the closely related abject, creating complications in the ritualized removal of the taboo from the individual. The setting apart of the abject is much more difficult if the taboo and abject are a spiritual or psychological component of the person. See Julia Kristeva’s The Powers of Horror.]
Dr. Davis demonstrated some of the patterns, repetitions and affirmations in oral performance by playing tapes of Mandinkin (west African) and Serbian oral performances. Even with no knowledge of the languages, various patterns of stresses, line breaks, and repetitions of sounds and words could be identified by the listener. Additionally, in the West African performance, an example of affirmation could be identified. Affirmation is a word or phrase, in this case a refrain word "naamu" (meaning "yes, indeed") could be heard at pauses in the speaker/singers performance. Dr. Davis likened this to the affirmation "amen" used as a refrain in African American religious "performance" (sermons/singing). This locates the latter within a tradition of signification. The affirmation is used as a form of encouragement of the speaker and as a participatory activity. The practice mirrors the African oral tradition of "calling back and forth" which, in other manifestations in African and other traditions, constitutes an oral "battle' with an escalation of the exchange that can be used as a substitute for a physical confrontation. A "war of words" so to speak.
Davis mentioned Walter Ong, an authority in linguistics and oral tradition, whose name I have come across before, (major work Orality and Literacy) in connection with theories of mapping and patterning in language. Research suggests that humans demonstrate pattern making and pattern seeking behaviors as evidenced in oral traditions.
Of over 8,000 languages identified in the world today, only 78 have a written literature suggesting that much human culture continues to rely on oral traditional practices. [The only difficulty I have with this is the suggestion that the over 7,022 languages that don't have a written tradition represent a large percentage of the world's population. I think they actually represent a fairly small segment of the entire population, though I would have to research to find out for sure. I was particularly thinking of Chinese and Indian cultures which make up a huge segment of the population. There exist many dialects in both cultures, some so significantly different from others as to be classed as unique languages. However now in many African nations, as well as India, other languages are used, primarily English and in some cases French, as a national language in order to avoid privileging one particular spoken language or dialect. I believe in China there is a privileged dialect of Chinese as well. The point is that many people who live in cultures with a traditionally oral language are also exposed to a language with a written component. I wonder how much that changes things?]
Oral tradition has somewhat different purposes in its "art" than written traditions. The stories are much more important for the preservation of group identity and cultural practices. The art of it stems from its purpose and not the other way around, which sometimes may be the case in a written "poetics". Aesthetics and poetics differ in that the former indicates an artifact, something "homo-faber" (man-made) as opposed to found in nature, poetics refers to the written word. That being the case, I assume that oral traditions fall in the realm of aesthetics.
The oral traditions represent a social activity more than an artistic one. There are reasons for the "art" of it. Songs and poems learned and passed on in the oral tradition possess certain characteristics. In the same way that all cultures have taboos which are different across cultural boundaries, all oral traditions rely on repetition, affirmation, and patterning, though they vary across the traditions.
Cultures that rely on oral tradition look at the concept of time differently. Events are not always sequential and they are not always consistent with historic events or human development. In some oral cultures, time seems almost collapsed in that the origin of the individual, or the activities of the individual, are not separated in the way that they are for written language cultures. Part of the reason for this is the way the stories are told. Oral traditions do not rely on strict memorization, some stories are contained in or modified by others. In addition, because things are not recorded, it is not possible to go back to particular dates or eras with any degree of specificity or reliability. The time that exists with in the tradition, out side the everyday or seasonal times that can be accounted for by individuals or communities, is called the dream time in some cultures. Additionally, this may included a different connection between knower and known, a sort of non-separation.
Oral traditions are generative and mnemonic. They are affirming of the present order and provide a level of predictability. Sometimes the stories are changed, or may reflect a vision of the culture that doesn't agree with historical fact. Changes to legends, or stories (cultural mythologies) serve to make the events more interesting, more flattering to the culture, which helps keep the story alive and thereby, the culture as well. Davis gave and example of a Serbian story of Marko, the son of a defeated ruler, in which the protagonist is praised in oral tradition as a hero and a resister of the conquering Turks, when in fact he had been a traitor and a collaborator. The oral tradition of the story has him subverting and misleading the Turks, not collaborating with them.
The oral traditions served purposes beyond what we generally perceive to be poetics. For instance, the Australian songlines were not only stories of cultural and individual creation, they were maps of the land and accounts of journeys through it. Each person has the opportunity when young to learn the story of his "totem" (which in this case is denoted by an animal), but if a person fails to be able to recite it by the third try they are killed. The failure to learn and know the songline could jeopardize the individual's life or that of his group because of the important information contained on the songs.
Implications/Consequences/Points of View
Study of oral tradition falls in the linguistic realm. Davis mentioned several linguistic researchers and also said that some have labeled it a neo-primitive undertaking. However, he cautions that it is not a primitive form but very developed and complex in some cases. He further discussed the problems presented by attempting to discuss oral traditions by using literary criticism frames such as marxist and feminist readings. Oral traditions can appear to be racist and sexist and to a degree that is true since one of the objective of oral traditions in oral cultures is to separate the "in group" from the "out group." In other words, I assume, as a group semiotic practice, an oral tradition is somewhat dependent on preserving the group it serves necessarily distancing itself from others. He warns that resurrecting oral traditions for the purpose of, or when it results in, conflict between groups could be detrimental, except when the purpose is to separate from the dominant culture which can absorb this conflict. He used the rise of the Nazi party and the attempt it made to privilege the Aryan German culture over that of its minorities through inflammatory rhetoric.
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