Contemporary Pacific academics are giving oral tradition an identity so this article briefly overviews the discourse of oral tradition, meaning of its forms — oral history and oral literature — and their relevance to the Pacific Islands. Oral tradition is a form of human communication where useful information is received, preserved and transmitted orally or verbally for posterity. The transmission of a preserved cultural knowledge is done via vocal utterances prevalent especially in preliterate societies. It includes spoken words in form of folk tales, ballads, chants, jokes, riddles, stories, legends, proverbs, belief, motion, music and songs. This tradition does not remain stagnant in terms of its historicity as it keeps on changing and evolving over time, filtered and codified with every generation. For full article click here.
Tag: Fiji
Fiji Oral History Map
Bula! Welcome to the Fiji Oral History Map. The Map is a user-generated database of video, audio and written testimonials of Fijians worldwide. Whether you currently live in Fiji or come from there and now live in Australia, the United States, or elsewhere, whether you are Native Fijian, Indo-Fijian, other Pacific Islander, White, Chinese, or mixed-race, whether you are young or old or somewhere in between, we want to hear your story. The goal of the Fiji Oral History Map is to reflect the diversity and expansiveness of the Fijian community worldwide and to provide a forum for members of the community to share their stories and connect globally. See website here.