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- Oral Tradition Essay: VHS "Folklore and Literature in Myth, Magic and Ritual -Final Project -
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Saturday, March 11, 2006
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This is my final that I had to write for my first semester's VHS course. It was a pain to do, because it was just stupid. But nevertheless...
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Stories have been the foundation for civilization and intellect since speech itself was mastered. With writers like Shakespeare and Dante and story tellers such as William Preece and Richard Chase, it’s not wonder why people cherish language and literacy; not being able to read or hear their tales would be a great shame indeed. So what are the differences between orally told stores and the written word?
Orally told stories were told more by women and the poor in “the olden days.” Mothers telling a moral their children, or townspeople talking about local gossip- paper and books were an expensive and scarce commodity so they made due with their vocal abilities. But there are problems with orally told stories that won’t necessarily be present with written ones. Because there is no definite outcome of the story, orally told ones have the tendency to be stretch a far bit beyond the truth. They build and build with each time told and sometimes turn into a farfetched tale. It’s a natural tendency with people to exaggerate, and when it comes to the written word that can’t automatically happen. . Of course you get the possibility of someone changing the story, but there still is that hope of finding the original text. Also because there is no written or known author it is hard when trying to trace the origins or creator of the story. It seems as if the written word is more reliable and was more precious to people of older times.
Concerning the written word, there is something about the permanence about the medium. There is something special about being able to see the words and preserve them in your mind, to touch them and hold all the knowledge in your hand. Without the written word we would have no history, without it we’d have no unified
Language and without it we would have no religious stability. Take Hammurabi’s code and the Bible. How would it be if they were told orally? Utter chaos and no distinction between what is said and what is not. There is something magical about opening a book and seeing things in black and white that can’t be captured when just talking. It is that magic that draws some people to books.
It is awe inspiring how much knowledge can be held through the written word. It is a shame when you think about all the great libraries that where burned down and how much understanding is lost when things are not written down and preserved.
In recent times however, so many people either can't read or simply don't use the knowledge they have, letting the written word and all of its understood power just go to waste. It's heartbreaking to see many people, intelligent people, scared to even pick up something as simple as a newspaper or a magazine. We have a whole society of people, too timid or too lazy to visit their library or even the vast volumes of literature on the Internet, instead favoring television, radio and other, more digestible means of oral or visual entertainment. So now there is a reverse effect and oral told stores seem to take preseance.
Regardless whether they where told orally or written, stories opened the minds of both the youth and the older to new possibilities and reminded them of the old ones. They weaved paradoxes of fantasy and helped nourish the dreams of the world. Both will continue to help people in their future and remind them of a better day and both will forever hold a place in the hearts of humanity; whether it is realized or not. So remember, cherish books and speech for not just what they are, but for what they stand and will uphold.
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