Oral Traditions and the Written Text

By Jan Jansen

The contributions covered a wide range of topics. Schipper and Van Reenen discussed the variety of genres through which oral accounts are incorporated into written literature. Kakkik and Oosten focused on methodological aspects in the collection of Inuit stories, and Van Londen analyzed the influence of writing on the structure and content of these stories. Lutgendorf and Jansen presented case studies of the remarkable memory of performers of epic texts. Adelaar discussed the problems in the choice of language in Andes oral tradition, when stories must be made communicative out of their original context. Arps discussed a new phenomenon in the studies of oral literature: cassette literature in Java. De Merolla gave an insight into the sociological analysis of the position of Maghreb oral and written literature, which should be analyzed in relation to both French and Arab literature.
All the contributors focused on particular cases and in the general discussion after the seminar this approach was considered to be very fruitful. In many presentations the concepts 'orality' and 'literacy' were criticized as the reification of an over-appreciated teleological dichotomy. Arps argued that literacy also means orality, and texts are more fluid identities than is supposed in the orality-literacy debate. Much emphasis has been placed on the interaction between literary products and orality. As Ludgendorf stated: 'Writing is an overvalued technology.'
Moreover, due to the variation in the contributions it has been showed that the study of texts require an interdisciplinary approach, as Schipper argued. For instance, Van Reenen's and De Merolla's contribution have unequivocally shown that texts cannot be analyzed out of their political context.