Oral Tradition, Folk lore and Fairy Tales.

For my online course on Folk & Fairytales, we read two interesting pieces which explain the origin of folk literature  and the importance (or lack thereof) the chronology of oral tradition. 

In "Folk Literature: An Operational Definition" Francis Lee Utley provided a clear analysis of the genre of folklore, describing it as “literature orally transmitted” but also explained that folklore is more than that. Folklore also includes other cultural artifacts, customs and most notably language, which most analysts generally exclude, as an important part of its composition. Folklore is relevant to both ethnographical and anthropological studies. For all of the historical and cultural importance that Utley places on folklore, he does also state that the authentication has to be critically examined. There are a number of reasons why this is so necessary, the problems of origins, prejudice and the increasing influence of the mass media. He also warned folklorist against confusing literary versions of folklore with the oral tales.

While reading David P. Henige’s "Oral Tradition and Chronology", he explained that the most important source of chronological information is oral tradition. He based his opinion on the Conference of on African Chronology held in 1966; using this as his example, Henige found that there were many possible issues with the authentication of any data. For the purposes of the chronological aspect of oral tradition however Henige explains that there are many weaknesses that contribute to making the process so difficult, one of which is ‘telescoping’.

After completing the readings what I learned is that the tradition of “literature orally transmitted” is as Utley stated, “a critical task, demanding attention to genesis but not that alone, textual accuracy and a sense of history in the broadest intellectual and cultural sense, and a sense of anthropological pattern and contrast” (Utley, p.204). Folklore itself consists of literature and other arts and crafts, beliefs, customs and rites, and language. Which entails more than I thought it did. There is a cultural importance to Folklore that I had not ever considered before. After completing Henige, however, I felt his views somewhat contradicted Utley in that he seemed to stress that the "Perhaps the weakest aspect of oral tradition is its inability to establish and maintain an accurate assessment of the length of the past it purports to relate" (Henige, p.398). Can we truly value the historical importance of literature orally transmitted? Or should we take it with a grain of salt and be somewhat skeptical of the source's memory or slant on what is being transmitted.

Henige, David P. "Oral Tradition and Chronology." The Journal of African History, Vol. 12, No. 3 (1971): 371-389.

Utley, Francis Lee. "Folk Literature: An Operational Definition." The Journal of Americal Folklore, Vol. 74, No. 293 (1961): 193-206.