# Oral literature > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Oral_literature > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Oral_literature.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oral_literature > Source revision: 1351571312 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) Spoken or sung literature "Folk literature" redirects here. For the collection of Chinese literature, see [Suwenxue congkan](/source/Suwenxue_congkan). "Folk tale" redirects here. For other uses, see [Folk tale (disambiguation)](/source/Folk_tale_(disambiguation)). Literature Oral literature Folklore ceremonial poetry epics evocation fable fairy tale folk play folksong incantation legend myth proverb Oration Performance lyrics spoken word storytelling Saying Major written forms Drama closet drama Poetry lyric narrative Prose narrative Nonsense verse Ergodic Electronic Religious Long prose fiction Anthology Serial Novel/romance Medium prose fiction Novella Novelette Short prose fiction Short story Drabble Sketch Flash fiction Parable Wisdom Prose genres Fiction Children's Encyclopedic Genre action adventure coming-of-age crime erotic fantasy horror military paranormal romance science fiction supernatural western Historical Realist Speculative Non-fiction Academic history philosophy Anecdote Epistle Essay Journalism Letter Life Nature Persuasive Travelogue Poetry genres Narrative Children Epic Epyllion Dramatic Verse novel National Lyric Ballad Elegy Epigram Ghazal Haiku Hymn Limerick Lyrics Ode Qasida Sonnet Villanelle Dramatic genres Comedy Libretto Play historical moral Satire Script Tragedy Tragicomedy History Ancient Medieval Early medieval Early modern Renaissance 18th 19th 20th Contemporary 21st Media Voice audiobook speech Writing book digital electronics ebook manuscript Lists and outlines Outline Glossary Books Epic folk-epics Poets Writers Movements poetry groups Cycles Literary awards poetry Short story collection / Cycle Lost literary work lacuna Theory and criticism Sociology Magazines Composition Language Narrative Comparative Circle Society Post-literate Society Peer Feud Estate Workshop Circle Literature portal v t e **Oral literature**, **orature**, or **folk literature** is a [genre](/source/Genre) of [literature](/source/Literature) that is spoken or sung in contrast to that which is [written](/source/Writing), though much oral literature has been transcribed.[1] There is no standard definition, as [anthropologists](/source/Anthropologist) have used varying descriptions for oral literature or folk literature. A broad conceptualization refers to it as literature characterized by oral transmission and the absence of any fixed form. It includes the stories, legends, and history passed through generations in a spoken form.[2] ## Background Pre-literate societies, by definition, have no written literature, but may possess rich and varied [oral traditions](/source/Oral_tradition)—such as folk [epics](/source/Epic_poetry), [folk](/source/Folklore) [narratives](/source/Narrative_art) (including [fairy tales](/source/Fairy_tale) and [fables](/source/Fable)), [folk drama](/source/Folk_drama), [proverbs](/source/Proverb) and [folksongs](/source/Folksong)—that effectively constitute an oral literature. Even when these are collected and published by scholars such as [folklorists](/source/Folklorist) and [paremiographers](/source/Paremiography), the result is still often referred to as "oral literature". The different genres of oral literature pose classification challenges to scholars because of cultural dynamism in the modern digital age.[3] Literate societies may continue an oral tradition — particularly within the family (for example [bedtime stories](/source/Bedtime_story)) or informal social structures. The telling of [urban legends](/source/Urban_legend) may be considered an example of oral literature, as can [jokes](/source/Jokes) and also [oral poetry](/source/Oral_poetry) including [slam poetry](/source/Slam_poetry) which has been a televised feature on [Russell Simmons](/source/Russell_Simmons)' *[Def Poetry](/source/Def_Poetry)*; [performance poetry](/source/Performance_poetry) is a genre of poetry that consciously shuns the written form.[4] Furthermore, traditions demonstrating "persistent orality" can continue to thrive primarily through spoken or sung performance even within literate societies, adapting to new contexts and media. For example, [Bhojpuri](/source/Bhojpuri_language) folk song traditions, carried by the Indian diaspora to places like [Mauritius](/source/Mauritius) and [Trinidad](/source/Trinidad), demonstrate resilience and adaptation not primarily through print, but through continued performance in various settings (from weddings to public fêtes and carnivals) and circulation across multiple platforms, including commercial recordings, radio, film, and digital media like [YouTube](/source/YouTube). This process often involves linguistic and musical creolisation (e.g., the development of [Chutney music](/source/Chutney_music) blending Bhojpuri elements with English lyrics and Caribbean rhythms) and the creation of what some scholars term "soft texts"—where familiar fragments, melodies, or evocative words maintain cultural resonance even as the original forms evolve.[5] Oral literatures forms a generally more fundamental component of [culture](/source/Culture), but operates in many ways as one might expect literature to do. The [Ugandan](/source/Uganda) scholar [Pio Zirimu](/source/Pio_Zirimu) introduced the term ***orature*** in an attempt to avoid an [oxymoron](/source/Oxymoron), but *oral literature* remains more common both in academic and popular writing.[6] *The Encyclopaedia of African Literature*, edited by [Simon Gikandi](/source/Simon_Gikandi) (Routledge, 2003), gives this definition: "Orature means something passed on through the spoken word, and because it is based on the spoken language it comes to life only in a living community. Where community life fades away, orality loses its function and dies. It needs people in a living social setting: it needs life itself." In *Songs and Politics in Eastern Africa*, edited by [Kimani Njogu](/source/Kimani_Njogu) and Hervé Maupeu (2007), it is stated (page 204) that Zirimu, who coined the term, defines orature as "the use of utterance as an aesthetic means of expression" (as quoted by [Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o](/source/Ng%C5%A9g%C4%A9_wa_Thiong'o), 1988). According to the book *Defining New Idioms and Alternative Forms of Expression*, edited by Eckhard Breitinger (Rodopi, 1996, page 78): "This means that any 'oral society' had to develop means to make the spoken word last, at least for a while. We tend to regard all the genres of orature as belonging to the homogeneous complex of folklore." Building on Zirimu's orature concept, Mbube Nwi-Akeeri explained that Western theories cannot effectively capture and explain oral literature, particularly those indigenous to regions such as Africa. The reason is that there are elements to oral traditions in these places that cannot be captured by words alone, such as the existence of gestures, dance, and the interaction between the storyteller and the audience.[7] According to Nwi-Akeeri, oral literature is not only a narrative, but also a [performance](/source/Performance). ## History of oral literature Oral tradition is seen in societies with vigorous oral conveyance practices to be a general term inclusive of both oral literature and any written literature, including sophisticated writings, as well, potentially, as visual and [performance arts](/source/Performance_art) which may interact with these forms, extend their expression, or offer additional expressive media. Thus even where no phrase in local language which exactly translates "oral literature" is used, what constitutes "oral literature" as understood today is already understood to be part or all of the lore media with which a society conducts profound and common cultural affairs among its members, orally. In this sense, oral lore is an ancient practice and concept natural to the earliest storied communications and transmissions of bodies of knowledge and culture in verbal form from the dawn of language-based human societies, and 'oral literature' thus understood was putatively recognized in times prior to recordings of history in non-oral media, including painting and writing. Oral literature as a concept, after 19th-century antecedents, was more widely circulated by [Hector Munro Chadwick](/source/Hector_Munro_Chadwick) and [Nora Kershaw Chadwick](/source/Nora_Kershaw_Chadwick) in their comparative work on the "growth of literature" (1932–40). In 1960, [Albert B. Lord](/source/Albert_B._Lord) published *[The Singer of Tales](/source/The_Singer_of_Tales)*, which influentially examined fluidity in both ancient and later texts and "oral-formulaic" principles used during composition-in-performance, particularly by contemporary South Slavic [bards](/source/Bards) relating long traditional narratives. From the 1970s onwards, the term "Oral literature" appears in the work of both literary scholars and anthropologists: [Finnegan](/source/Ruth_Finnegan) (1970, 1977), Görög-Karady (1976),[8] Bauman (1986), in the [World Oral Literature Project](/source/World_Oral_Literature_Project) and in the articles of the journal *[Cahiers de Littérature Orale](https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Cahiers_de_Litt%C3%A9rature_Orale&action=edit&redlink=1)*.[9] ## Deaf culture Although [deaf people](/source/Deaf_culture) communicate manually rather than orally, their culture and traditions are considered in the same category as oral literature. Stories, jokes and poetry are passed on from person to person with no written medium.[*[citation needed](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_needed)*] ## See also - [Archive of Turkish Oral Narrative](/source/Archive_of_Turkish_Oral_Narrative) - [Ethnopoetics](/source/Ethnopoetics) - [Guslar](/source/Guslar) - [Hainteny](/source/Hainteny) - [Improvisation](/source/Improvisation) - [Intangible Cultural Heritage](/source/Intangible_Cultural_Heritage) - [Kamishibai](/source/Kamishibai) - [Korean art](/source/Korean_art) - [Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity](/source/Masterpieces_of_the_Oral_and_Intangible_Heritage_of_Humanity) - [National epic](/source/National_epic) - [Oral poetry](/source/Oral_poetry) - [Oral history](/source/Oral_history) - [Oral Literature and Research Programme](/source/Oral_Literature_and_Research_Programme) - [Oral tradition](/source/Oral_tradition) - [Oral-formulaic composition](/source/Oral-formulaic_composition) - [Orality](/source/Orality) - [Palestinian hikaye](/source/Palestinian_hikaye) - [Pantun](/source/Pantun) - [Patha](/source/Patha) - [Seanachai](/source/Seanachai) - [Yukar](/source/Yukar) - [Storytelling](/source/Storytelling) - [World Oral Literature Project](/source/World_Oral_Literature_Project) ## Bibliography - Finnegan, Ruth (2012), *Oral Literature in Africa*. Cambridge: Open Book Publishers. [CC BY edition](https://unglue.it/work/81834/download/) [doi](/source/Doi_(identifier)):[10.11647/OBP.0025](https://doi.org/10.11647%2FOBP.0025) - Ong, Walter (1982), *Orality and Literacy: the technologizing of the word*. New York: Methuen Press. - Tsaaior, James Tar (2010), "Webbed words, masked meanings: Proverbiality and narrative/discursive strategies" in D. T. Niane's *Sundiata: an epic of old Mali*. [Proverbium](/source/Proverbium_(journal)) 27: 319–338. - Vansina, Jan (1978), "Oral Tradition, Oral History: Achievements and Perspectives", in B. Bernardi, C. Poni and A. Triulzi (eds), *Fonti Orali, Oral Sources, Sources Orales*. Milan: Franco Angeli, pp. 59–74. - Vansina, Jan (1961), *Oral Tradition. A Study in Historical Methodology*. Chicago and London: Aldine and Routledge & Kegan Paul. ## References 1. **[^](#cite_ref-EB_1-0)** ["Oral literature"](https://www.britannica.com/art/oral-literature). [Encyclopaedia Britannica](/source/Encyclopaedia_Britannica). 1. **[^](#cite_ref-2)** Eugenio, Damiana (2007). *Philippine Folk Literature: An Anthology*. Quezon City: The University of the Philippines Press. pp. xxiii. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [9789715425360](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/9789715425360). 1. **[^](#cite_ref-3)** Kipchumba, Paul (2016), *Oral Literature of the Marakwet of Kenya*, Nairobi: Kipchumba Foundation. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [1973160064](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/1973160064), [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-1973160069](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-1973160069). 1. **[^](#cite_ref-4)** Parker, Sam (16 December 2009). ["Three-minute poetry? It's all the rage"](https://www.thetimes.com/culture/tv-radio/article/three-minute-poetry-its-all-the-rage-5gfz39rhqkx). *[The Times](/source/The_Times)*. [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20170201122949/http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/life/article1725243.ece) from the original on Feb 1, 2017. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-5)** Marzagora, Sara (ed.). *Oral Literary Worlds (Chapter 4)*. pp. 145–165. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-6)** Auger, Peter (2010), *[The Anthem Dictionary of Literary Terms and Theory](https://books.google.com/books?id=pweHrSjCQrgC&pg=PA210)*, Anthem Press, [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [9780857286703](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/9780857286703), at p. 210, and Roscoe, Adrian (1977), *Uhuru's Fire: African Literature East to South*, CUP Archive, [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [9780521290890](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/9780521290890) at p. 9. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-7)** Nwi-Akeeri, Mbube (2017). ["Oral Literature in Nigeria: A Search for Critical Theory"](https://web.archive.org/web/20211123035115/https://iiardpub.org/get/RJHCS/VOL.%203%20NO.%202%202017/Oral%20Literature.pdf) (PDF). *Research Journal of Humanities and Cultural Studies*. **3**. [ISSN](/source/ISSN_(identifier)) [2579-0528](https://search.worldcat.org/issn/2579-0528). Archived from [the original](https://iiardpub.org/get/RJHCS/VOL.%203%20NO.%202%202017/Oral%20Literature.pdf) (PDF) on 2021-11-23. Retrieved 2019-02-01. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-8)** Samarin, William J. (1980). ["Noirs et blancs: leur image dans la litérature orale africaine: étude, anthologie. By Görög-Karady . Paris: Société d'Etudes Linguistiques et Anthropologiques de France, 1976. 427 pp. n.p."](https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/africa/article/abs/noirs-et-blancs-leur-image-dans-la-literature-orale-africaine-etude-anthologie-by-gorogkarady-paris-societe-detudes-linguistiques-et-anthropologiques-de-france-1976-427-pp-np/9162754F41FFF4316D795B1EB7E0C1FE). *Africa*. **50** (1): 106–107. [doi](/source/Doi_(identifier)):[10.2307/1158658](https://doi.org/10.2307%2F1158658). [ISSN](/source/ISSN_(identifier)) [1750-0184](https://search.worldcat.org/issn/1750-0184). [JSTOR](/source/JSTOR_(identifier)) [1158658](https://www.jstor.org/stable/1158658). [S2CID](/source/S2CID_(identifier)) [147222497](https://api.semanticscholar.org/CorpusID:147222497). 1. **[^](#cite_ref-9)** Barnard, Alan, and Jonathan Spencer, *Encyclopedia of Social and Cultural Anthropology* (Taylor & Francis, 2002). ## External links Look up ***[orature](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/orature)*** in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. - Media related to [Oral literature](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Oral_literature) at Wikimedia Commons - [World Oral Literature Project](https://www.oralliterature.org/): voices of vanishing worlds, [University of Cambridge](/source/University_of_Cambridge) v t e Literacy Learning Adolescent literacy Emergent literacy Family literacy Functional illiteracy Phonics Post-literacy Whole language Locations List of countries by literacy rate Canada China India Bihar New Zealand Tokelau Pakistan Romania Somalia South Korea United States Institutions International Literacy Association International Literacy Day National Council of Teachers of English No Child Left Behind Act People Marie Clay Ruth Johnson Colvin Paulo Freire James Paul Gee Griffith Jones Frank Laubach Brian Street Other types AI Agricultural Braille Carbon Computational Computer Critical Cultural Data Digital Diaspora Ecological Electracy Emotional Faith Financial Geo-literacy Graph Health Mental health Occupational Safety and Health Information Information and media Legal Media Metaliteracy Multiliteracies Musical Numeracy Object Oracy Political Power Physical Psychological Racial Religious Scientific Social Statistical Technological Transliteracy Visual Web Related Aliteracy Asemic writing Children's literature Composition studies Dick and Jane Dyslexia Literacy test Media consumption Orality Oral literature Post-literate society Reading Writing Writing system Authority control databases International GND National United States France BnF data Japan Czech Republic Israel Other İslâm Ansiklopedisi Internet Encyclopedia of Ukraine Yale LUX --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Oral literature](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oral_literature) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oral_literature?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.