Why has the oral tradition been so important in West Africa?

Why has the oral tradition been so important in West Africa?

There is a rich tradition throughout Africa of oral storytelling. So the transmission of knowledge, history and experience in West Africa was mainly through the oral tradition and per- formance rather than on written texts. Oral traditions guide social and human morals, giving people a sense of place and purpose.

What West African artistic traditions influence our world?

Folktales, proverbs, and storytelling were popular oral traditions of West Africa that have influenced writers of our culture. West African visual arts such as sculptures, masks, and basket making are art forms that still inspire modern-day American artists.

What role does oral history play in modern studies of life in West Africa?

West Africans passed on their history and culture through stories and oral history. The Arabs traders brought “written language” to West Africa. professional storytellers and oral historians were called “griots.” They worked for kings and nobles. They memorized and recited stories of famous people and events.

What impact did oral traditions have on Africa’s history?

3.01: West African Empires-What impact did oral traditions have on Africa’s history? They focused on writing stories, most of their knowledge and history was passed down using oral traditions.

What is the importance of oral tradition in our society?

Oral traditions, transmitted in the form of tales, myths and legends, fairytales, songs, especially epic songs and poems, proverbs, riddles and other genres, form an important treasury of many a people’s cultural heritage even today.

What is the oral tradition of storytelling?

Oral storytelling is telling a story through voice and gestures. The oral tradition can take many forms, including epic poems, chants, rhymes, songs, and more.

What is the importance of oral storytelling?

Studies reinforce the importance of oral storytelling in the development of an individual’s social and emotional abilities, cognitive growth, as well as their language skills. Socially and emotionally, oral storytelling is much more personal than telling a story using a book.

What are the types of oral tradition?

Oral traditions can be categorized into different types, including legends, myths, folktales, and memorates. A memorate is an account of a personal experience or encounter with the supernatural, such as a ghost story or other expression of the spirit to a human being.

What are the characteristics of oral tradition?

Terms in this set (31)

  • Oral tradition. the sharing of stories, cultures, and ideas by word of mouth.
  • Theme. A central idea, message, or insight that is revealed within a story.
  • Universal theme.
  • Moral.
  • Heroes and heroines.
  • Storytelling.
  • Hyperbole.
  • Personification.

What are the three forms of oral tradition?

They are: verbal, materials, custom, belief, motion, and music and song. Verbal or oral traditions rely on the spoken word: jokes, riddles, stories, legends, rhymes, proverbs, language, and naming.

What is another word for oral tradition?

What is another word for oral tradition?

lore beliefs
tradition wisdom
doctrine fantasy
folk-wisdom mythus
superstitions adage

How reliable is oral tradition?

Oral sources are no more or less inherently reliable than written ones, they simply need to be understood and used differently than someone might be used to. TL;DR – Oral tradition is no more or less reliable than written material, simply different.

What is the main disadvantage of oral tradition?

The following are disadvantages of oral traditions Oral tradition may be biased. This is possible because of nature of transmission itself. oral transmission is full of exaggeration, creativity and sometimes the informant may talk of good things only.

What are the limitation of oral tradition?

Some information may be forgotten or omitted. They may not be correct dates or chronology of events. It is an expensive method since one has to pay for information. It is time consuming since one requires a lot of time to interview one individual.

What is the difference between oral and written tradition?

Oral history is often one person’s point of view, unless someone gathers a series of interviews on the same issue together in a volume. A traditional written history, by contrast, uses a variety of sources, which may include oral interviews, government reports, newspaper articles, letters, diaries and personal papers.

What is the similarities of oral and written tradition?

Answer. Answer: Oral and written forms of communication are similar in many ways. They both rely on the basic communication process, which consists of eight essential elements: source, receiver, message, channel, receiver, feedback, environment, context, and interference.

How is a proverb An example of an oral tradition?

Answer: Proverbs is an example of an oral tradition because proverbs are wise sayings. Some riddles or folktales can be wise sayings which are proverbs.

What is the written tradition?

written tradition. based on texts that can be written down and copied.

Why do you think the oral tradition came first before the written tradition?

Before the gospels were composed, Jesus’ first followers sustained his memory by sharing stories of his life, death and teachings. And it’s around that memory, around that set of concerns that a lot of the earliest oral stories about Jesus must have circulated and must have been built. …

What are some well known tales that were originally told orally?

Some people include: (1) Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm collected, retold, and recorded in print the European variants of tales in our Western cultures, such as “Cinderella,” “Sleeping Beauty,” and “Little Red Riding Hood.” (2) Charles Perrault who collected European tales.

Is written documentation or oral tradition older historically?

Oral history is both the oldest type of historical inquiry, predating the written word, and one of the most modern, initiated with tape recorders in the 1940s and now using 21st-century digital technologies.

Why is oral tradition unreliable?

Oral traditions face the challenge of accurate transmission and verifiability of the accurate version, particularly when the culture lacks written language or has limited access to writing tools. Oral cultures have employed various strategies that achieve this without writing.

What is oral history example?

Oral histories are accounts given by a person of events earlier in their life. Often, they are taken by family members, historians, archivists, or others who interview older people in an attempt to document events and lives that might otherwise be forgotten.

How do you use oral history in a sentence?

At the time of her oral history, she was a sculptor. Oral history practice has produced some useful pointers to how such training might be focused. It is a compilation of oral history rather than a biography. The book’s greatest strength is its reliance on oral history, but this is also a weakness.

What is the importance of local history?

Local History as a Microcosm The automobile transformed society in many ways such as making transportation and communication far easier. By investigating local history, you can find documents such as accounts of the first cars in a town, what people thought of them, and how they changed the lives of the community.

What is oral and local history?

Local history is the study of history in a geographically local context and it often concentrates on the local community. It incorporates cultural and social aspects of history. Historic plaques are one form of documentation of significant occurrences in the past and oral histories are another.

Begin typing your search term above and press enter to search. Press ESC to cancel.

Back To Top