Discussing Oral Tradition

“… The oral tradition gives voice to those who would have otherwise been voiceless…” – Benjamin Zephaniah

It now seems inane to the contemporary world that ages before the paper was discovered, ideals and fables passed by word of mouth. The art of oral tradition has long been misunderstood to be ambiguous, discordant, deceptive and most of all, worthless. Who knows whether the legends passed by word of mouth were ever passed on correctly?

In that thinking, many would not be wrong. Oral tradition was largely dependent not just on the original storyteller but also on the interpreters. After all, a sentence can have several contrasting meanings; it is left to individuals to interpret in the manner they prefer.

But here, we come to a crossroad: exactly where do the boundaries for oral and written tradition lie?

As Caroline Helstone, the character of the book Shirley by Charlotte Bronte, on being reprimanded with a passage from the New Testament –wherein is stated a woman must learn in silence and not teach or usurp authority from men - says in retaliation, “I dare say, if I could read the original Greek, I should find that many of the words have been wrongly translated, perhaps misapprehended altogether. It would be possible, I doubt not, with a little ingenuity, to give the passage quite a contrary turn; to make it say, "Let the woman speak out whenever she sees fit to make an objection."

Interpretation and translation often go hand-in-hand with oral tradition, almost as much as it does with the written tradition.

Many critics still uphold their firm belief that written works are more reliable than legends passed on by oral tradition, but here we digress: haven’t all written works once been a form of oral tradition? By saying that the oral tradition is one filled with starkly contrasting ideas that don’t match with original stories – or any other story of the same origin, rather - don’t we ultimately mean that written works are also not to be relied upon? A question that we can all ponder upon, surely. What we can safely conclude is the one thing countless numbers of people over the years have often been exasperated with: change is inevitable.

“There can’t be a pure myth, especially when the myth has been handed down in the oral tradition. As the stories are told, they change. If the stories don’t change, they just die.” – Maxine Hong Kingston

In order to decipher Zephaniah’s quote properly, we need to delve deeper into different eras when literature took diverse turns. Take the instance of the French Revolution, for example, where the words and ideas of philosophers such as Rousseau, Locke, and Montesquieu – denoting a free and privileged world to all - were passed on by word of mouth to the uneducated – then a majority of the country. Conflict – or rather, perception – arises when people understand the circumstances and oppression that they face and decide to voice their conviction and seek justice. In other words, they would have remained ‘voiceless’ and unheard unless they had words to motivate them.

Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey, two of the most popular works of literature prevailing through time, were originally merely legends passed on by minstrels and storytellers until they were compiled into volumes after the discovery of paper. These epics revolutionized and continue to inspire the narrative style of literature. All forms of mythology and religious texts were passed on in the form of oral tradition, igniting knowledge and interest in the populace. What can be universally concluded is that spoken words inspire much more than written words ever could.

Even today, oral tradition exists; most astonishingly, in our very homes. Indeed, bedtime stories – where every story starts, where every question arises in the mind of a child who remains a blank canvas until motivated. Many have also pointed out music as a form of oral tradition – and why not? All forms of art portray a tale, a chronicle, an epic… again, it is up to the observer to recognize the story and to comprehend it, to learn from it.

“There’s a saying in the oral tradition of storytelling that when you tell a story when you give out a story, it is no longer yours; it belongs to everyone who encounters it and everyone who takes it in.” – Ishmael Beah