Characteristics of Oral Traditions

120002578 SA1002 Ways of Thinking Christopher Hewitt 26/04/13 4. What are the characteristics of oral traditions? What are the implications of loss of language diversity across the globe? Oral traditions are more important that we might initially suppose and they are in severe jeopardy, a frightening number threatening to disappear forever in the immediate future. To offer an insight into the extent of this tragedy, it is presently approximated that we stand to lose a language every ten days for the foreseeable future (Harrison 2007:5). These verbally transmitted stories, myths, poems, ballads, songs, dramas, and narratives are the spoken transmissions of cultural understanding. Passed down through the generations via word of mouth rather than by way of the written medium, the form is fluid and constantly changing, free to transform with the culture as it evolves. This form – in the contemporary world – assures a vulnerable existence. In an era of globalisation in which peoples feel that it would be better for their children to learn the dominant language in a region so as to guarantee a “better” future, and as a result of past colonisations and oppressions, oral traditions are fading away into the seas of oblivion never to be retrieved, merging with those many which have experienced a similar fate before them. Often spoken traditions and alternative literacies are demeaned whilst alphabetic written systems are esteemed but, as we shall explore, these assumptions have been generally undone owing to recent developments in anthropological scholarship. With ‘the demise of cultural diversity, the erosion of what might be termed the ethnosphere, the full complexity…of human potential as brought into being by culture and adaptation since the dawn of consciousness’ (Davis 2007:5), our capacity as people for a more open-minded approach to life diminishes, as we perceive a decreasing number of alternative paths for understanding, of both other people and of the cosmos around us. Characteristics of Oral Traditions and difficulties with transcription Often written transcriptions of oral traditions are largely unsuccessful in their efforts at capturing meaning. Tedlock has drawn attention to those aspects of oral performance which are missed if a textual record is made instead of a voice recording, namely bodily movements; pauses; dynamics; the remarks or movements of an audience. 120002578 SA1002 Ways of Thinking Christopher Hewitt 26/04/13 His ultimate point is there is no such thing as ‘a naked authenticity of texts.’ He expressed the difficulties of written dictation: ‘It is not just that the phenomena of contouring, timing, and amplitude have somehow been overlooked and present a new domain for decipherment, but that they have always resisted reduction to particular units of the kind that can be ordered within a closed code’ ​(Tedlock 1983:9). In other words, the kinds of characteristics present in oral traditions are hard to categorise owing to their ‘infinite…shades of meaning’ (Tedlock 1983:9) which resist the simplification which the written medium offers. Only through direct experience or voice recordings are these meanings more successfully transmitted. Not only is there ‘a poverty of expressive means’ available for detailing the vast array of human articulation, but it is near impossible to achieve “objectivity.” Oral traditions are fluid, possessing the capacity to be reinvented each time, and will undoubtedly be affected by those present, as the tribe will be keen for everyone to understand things in terms that will resonate with them. In a process of learning and sharing there emerges a ‘​fusion of centres’ (Tedlock 1983:11) as part of an intersubjective, interelational and participatory methodology intended to encourage learning and a transmission of meaning to different people. Tedlock urges us to move away from what he calls the ‘“analogical”’ tradition and ‘towards a dialogical anthropology’ which ‘will keep us in motion, seeking not only a higher vantage point but a better understanding of roads’ (Tedlock 1983:19). In other words, by appreciating that the process is always subject to the influences of those present (including the mythographer) and often encourages subjective, individual participation, we will be better able to learn about oral cultures directly whilst potentially obtaining something of personal value and meaning. Consequences of the loss of language diversity With the loss of linguistic diversity, many irrecoverable things of significance are lost. Oral traditions are ways of understanding, classifying and communicating the human 120002578 SA1002 Ways of Thinking Christopher Hewitt 26/04/13 experience, and as the number of divergent understandings decreases in scope; the less we are exposed to “unusual” means of expression, the more our imagination is stunted. Linguistic studies into oral traditions and the languages of unique tribes have revealed how language structure is indicative of specific cultural understandings. Through time there has been extensive disagreement amongst anthropologists about whether language is telling of that people’s place in hierarchically organised categorizations (the traditional theory), or rather of culturally determined understandings – a more recent and plausible interpretation which came to prominence under Franz Boaz, Edward Sapir, Benjamin Lee Whorf among others. Sapir noted how ‘“human beings are very much at the mercy of the particular language which has become the medium of expression in their society”’ (Sapir in Whorf 1956:134), asserting that children acquire language having been subjected to it even before birth whilst in the womb; language then, is culturally and not naturally determined, varying ‘as all cultural effort varies…as truly as do the religions, the beliefs, the customs, and the arts of different peoples’ (Colapinto 2007). Everett explained how ‘a child of the Pirahã (​an indigenous ​hunter-gatherer​ tribe of ​Amazon​ natives) ​removed from the jungle at birth and brought up in any city in the world would have no trouble learning the local tongue’ because ‘the unusual aspects of the Pirahã are not a result of mental deficiency’ (both Everett in Calapinto 2007). These suppositions have largely dismantled theories centered on notions of superiority which were prevalent in the earlier evolutionary-orientated anthropology concerned with notions of progress, which catalogued cultures according to their supposed degrees of “barbarianism” or “civilisation.” This is a positive development in the sense that it has opened up the doors of possibility. Through our consideration of people from other cultures in this way, rather than the former simplistic approach which pigeonholed individuals on the basis of presumptions of inferiority, we are better able to expand our ideas on what the world and the nature of existence could be all about. Whorf, a pupil of Sapir, studied a group of people called the Hopi (a Native American tribe in northeast Arizona) and discovered how cultural practices and beliefs are reflected in their usage of grammar. His points are made clearer when he begins to draw parallels 120002578 SA1002 Ways of Thinking Christopher Hewitt 26/04/13 with European languages highlighting how correspondingly, the grammatical patterns of European language mirror cultural practices and colour understandings of time, space and matter. He expresses interestingly how in SAE languages (Standard Average European), the employment of three tenses, past-present-future, creates an ‘“objectification”’ of time, ‘enables us in imagination to “stand time units in a row”’ (Whorf 1956:143), as if time were ‘an evenly scaled limitless tape measure’ (Whorf 1956:154). In contrast, the Hopi have only two tenses which delineate ‘“the earlier”’ and ‘“the later.”’ Understandably, this enables a conception of time which is more subjective in nature, ‘correspond[ing] better to the feeling of duration as it is experienced…Nothing is suggested about time except the perpetual getting later of it’ (Whorf 1956:143). Thus people abide in the eternal realm of the present moment which cannot be quantified by dividing it up into smaller parts. Furthermore, according to Whorf’s analysis, SAE’s conceptualise reality largely in terms of what it calls “things” so that as a result, our ‘“thought-world”’ (the inbuilt system upon which we rely to make sense of our environment) has adapted to thinking that space cannot be affected by insubstantial entities like thought and intention, and instead is ‘malleable only by similar things, by more matter’ (Whorf 1956:149). This concept can be better understood when we consider our usage of metaphors to communicate ‘nonspatial’ potentials and qualities. We use words such as ‘“large, great, much, heavy, light, high, low, sharp, faint”’ to describe intensity; ‘“long, short, great, much, quick, slow”’ to describe duration and ‘“more, increase, grow, turn, get, approach, go, come, rise, fall, stop, smooth, even, rapid, slow”’ to describe tendency (Whorf 1956:145). The Hopi however, with their ‘striking’ (Whorf 1956:145) lack of metaphors for conceptualisation of the same things, are better able to conceive of space and objects as influenced by thought and desire. In fact, they have their own lexicons of words which are specifically assigned to describe duration, intensity and tendency - words completely unrelated to physicality. The comparison drawn between SAE’s and Hopi emphasises the effect which different cultural contexts have on the construction and command of language, and thus on a people’s perception of the world. By studying these systems of classification, we are better able to expand our minds to incorporate a wider array of possibilities; understand others who hold cultural beliefs 120002578 SA1002 Ways of Thinking Christopher Hewitt 26/04/13 different to our own whilst being encouraged to question those things which lay at the very heart of our own personal understanding. Cultural knowledge does not merely extend to the abstract realm of thought and perception; it extends to an awareness of the natural environment too. Indigenous knowledge of the natural world possessed by groups who transmit their knowledge via word of mouth is invaluable. An estimated $85 billion in profits ​per year ​is made by pharmaceutical companies on medicines derived from plants first known to indigenous peoples for their healing properties (Pennisi in Harrison 2007:15). People such as the Haunóo, forest dwellers from the island of Mindoro (Philippines), recognize more than 450 animals and distinguish 1500 plants, 400 more than are recognized by Western botanists working in the same forests. Their ‘taxonomy is as complex as that of the modern botanist’ and ‘the precision with which they observe their natural environment is, if anything, more acute’ (Davis 2007:10). Because of their intimate relationships with their natural environment, certain groups are able to identify changes in natural patterns, and thus recognise the effects of global warming, which are becoming increasingly patent to qualified academic experts over time, despite initial scepticisms. To cite one example, Davis mentions the Canadian Micmac people who possess the perceptive insight which enables them to recognise changes in the sounds of the wind as it blows through the branches of trees, not only across seasons but also across cycles lasting years. Transmuting names which evolve over time record these changes, enabling an understanding of environmental trends and an appreciation of the impact of acid rain on hardwood forests (Davis 2007:10-11). Alternative linguistic systems offer the potential for a deepened understanding of human cognition. As Harrison points out, ‘Linguists sorely need the oddest, quirkiest and most unusual languages and words to test out theoretical models’ (Harrison 2005:19) as sometimes the discovery of a new language completely overturns previously held assumptions. The diversity which these cultures offer provides the chance to broaden our understanding by dissolving dichotomies which are so pervasive in our concepts. The 120002578 SA1002 Ways of Thinking Christopher Hewitt 26/04/13 contradictions which these cultures pose to prevalent systems offer humanity the chance to rethink their view of the world, potentially expanding it to encompass a greater variety of possibilities. Conclusion To conclude, we have seen how oral traditions in the present times are in severe jeopardy and explored some of their key characteristics including some of the difficulties we are faced with when attempting to transcribe them for either preservation or dissemination. We have considered an alternative anthropological approach which proposes an intersubjective relationship between mythographer and participant over one which cloaks scenarios with cultural biases. We have explored how language is culturally determined and thus, how it offers insight into cultural understandings potentially different from our own, highlighting our own cultural assumptions. We can see therefore how the loss of language diversity condemns us ‘to a ​cultural amnesia that may undermine our ​sense of purpose ​and ability to ​live in peace with ​diverse groups of people’ (Harrison 2007:20). Study of new languages ‘enables us to broaden our thinking, enrich our ability to understand the world – to deal with reality and experience’ (Kolbert 2005). With loss of language diversity we lose out on an opportunity to learn new and valuable knowledge about the natural world and human cognition. Hopefully we are able to preserve some of these precious manifestations before they are lost forever. 120002578 SA1002 Ways of Thinking Christopher Hewitt 26/04/13 Bibliography COLAPINTO, JOHN. 2007. April 16 “The Interpreter: Has a remote Amazonian tribe upended our understanding of language?” ​The New Yorker​. DAVIS, WADE. 2007. “The Wonder of the Ethnosphere” in Davis, Wade, ​Light at the Edge of the World: A Journey Through the Realm of Vanishing Cultures. ​(Douglas & McIntyre), pp.1-14 HARRISON, K. DAVID. 2007. “A World of Many (Fewer) Voices” in K. David Harrison, ​When Languages Die: The Extinction of the World’s Languages and the Erosion of Human Knowledge. ​(Oxford University Press), pp.2-21 KOLBERT, ELIZABETH. June 6 2005. “Letter from Alaska: Last Words, A Language Dies” ​The New Yorker​, pp. 46-59 TEDLOCK, DENNIS. 1983. “Introduction” in ​The Spoken Word and the Work of Interpretation. ​(University of Pennsylvania Press). WHORF, BENJAMIN. 1956. “The Relation of Habitual Thought and Behaviour to Language” in J. B. Carroll (ed.) ​Language, Thought and Reality​ (Cambridge, MIT Press), pp.134-159