Orature
• By: Johnathan Allen
Orature & The Times
• Orature = Oral Literature
• Stories weren’t written
– They were told and spread by word of mouth
• Passed between generations
• Strong bonding experience
– Communal participation in Africa
• Easier telling than learning write and/or read
• Decline of European orature
– Printing press
– More people reading and writing
Orature & The Changing Times
• In the US
– Slaves mostly kept orature alive
• Orature coined as term by
– Pio Zirimu or Ngugi wa Thiong’o
• Further Decline from
– Movies
– Radio
• Still orally but not passed from generation to the next
– Television
– 87% literacy rate worldwide
Examples of Orature
• Folklore
• Urban legends
• Origin myths
• Personal tales
Common Traits of Orature
• Frequently origin stories
• Usually have a moral
– With morally flawed but potentially redeemable
character
• Can be told
– To teach a lesson to an individual or group
– To entertain
Orature of Old
• Many classic stories previously told orally
– Canterbury Tales
– Le Morte d’Arthur
– Rigveda
– Iliad
– Odyssey
Orature’s Influences
• Despite common traits
– Themes, morals, &
genres differ between
cultures
• Stories change over time
depending on culture and
even the storyteller
– Either modified or
discarded
• Variations in words
differ the story as well.
Benefits to Orature
• Story can be made appropriate for varying
audiences
• Great practice for oration
• Committal to memory instead of needing a
book
• Story can be made to have a personal effect
on the listener
Orature Today
• Rural people
– Africa
– South East Asia
• Family stories
• Campfire Stories
Orature’s Rebirth
• Why orature?
– We have recording mediums
– No need to memorize words
• Like college
– One big reason
» What if?