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Importance of oral tradition in the study of history
Uses And Importance Of Oral History
Uses And Importance Of Oral History
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“In every community - in families, neighborhoods, workplaces, and schools - there are people who have knowledge and skills to share to others”, quoted by folklorist Marjorie Hunt.(“The Smithsonian Folklife and Oral History Interviewing Guide”) “As active participants in community life, these bearers of tradition are primary sources of culture and history”. (https://folklife.si.edu/the-smithsonian-folklife-and-oral-history-interviewing-guide/smithsonian) Hunt’s statements solidify that being a traditional bearer is broadly important to the study of culture and history itself in a big way. In any case, the best method to document these memories and experiences is with the help of Oral History. Oral history is mainly understood as a self-conscious …show more content…
The interviewing process allows you to identify an individual’s culture, and may include background information about the culture in a subtle way. For what it’s worth, the interviewer might even recognize some similarities and differences along the way. People might not immediately realize it but we experience cultural awareness everyday. Everyday we constantly exposed to an abundant amount of representation of culture through art, literature, clothing, customs. The cultural values of a community gives an itself an identity to of its own people. Even so it’s a common bond that ties people together in the community ,where people interact and shape their standards and behavior. This is a term that is often defined as cultural norms or norms, a pattern especially of social behavior expected of a …show more content…
With the study of history, culture, and tradition of the people you will interview, it will give a first hand with knowledge and experience of those people. As society and life continues to adapt and change to meet new circumstances and other needs, traditional bearers will continuously shape the society and life as a whole. With that in mind, the study and understanding of oral history plays a very important role in the preservation of our cultures and traditions. Oral history is more in-depth in terms of personal experiences and reflections, which is why it’s more significant than any other historic
How does one define what culture is? Culture is defined as the system of shared beliefs, values, customs, behaviors, and artifacts that the members of society use to cope with, their world and with one another - transmitted from generation through learning. This is particularly meaning a pattern of behavior shared by a society or group of people; with many things making up a society’s ‘way of life’ such as language, foods etc. Culture is something that molds people into who they are today. It influences how people handle a variety of situations, process information and how they interact with others. However, there are events when one’s own culture does not play a significant role in the decisions that they make or how they see the world. Despite
Bentley, Jerry H., and Herbert F. Ziegler. Traditions & Encounters: A Global Perspective on the past. Boston: McGraw Hill, 2000. Print.
“Oral history is a maddeningly, imprecise term: it is used to refer to the formal, rehearsed accounts of the past presented by a culturally sanctioned tradition-bearers... informal conversations about “the old days” among friends, neighbors, family members… to recorded interviews deemed to have an important story to
The significance of oral tradition is stories that are told in which people formulate, pick up, and carry along as part of their cultural freight and these stories are told by people through folklore which is a form of oral tradition. Oral tradition helped shape our culture because we continue to do what we have been told orally by our ancestors as they passed it down through the generations. Culture shaped folklore by using
Native American storytelling is an effective method of strengthening cultural bonds because the stories convey a wealth of heritage and are presented in a memorable and engaging form. Instead of a moral at the end of the story, listeners are encouraged to draw their own conclusions. Stories that have been passed down from generation to generation foster a deep sense of community and afford listeners and storytellers alike to establish a lasting connection with their ancestral
We as human service workers need to be aware of cultural norms and traditions when working with different cultural groups. When I look up Indian culture and tradition I find quite a lot of information that seems specific to the country. I sent Farhana a thank you email thanking her for her time and telling her that the interview experience prompted me to do some more research on the Indian culture and she replied to the email saying “there is no “Indian culture””. Is there no Mexican culture, no African culture, no American culture, and no Asian culture?? I understand that we cannot put people in these cookie cutter molds based on their ethnic groups but I do feel like different groups do have cultural traditions, norms, and values, or maybe it is best described as ethnic elements?
In such a multicultural world, being knowledgeable and understanding of not only your cultural background, but that of others is essential. Building my awareness on cultures different from my own, and how it shapes an individual’s identity, will foster my personal and professional development. Subsequently, I conducted a cultural interview with an individual whose cultural background differed from my own. Several similarities and differences between our cultures were apparent in the interview, specifically in the areas of race, ethnicity, language, values, and worldview.
Oral history is history that comes from the people which have lived and experienced during that time. For example, Appy is interviewing a Vietnamese man named Thuy in the back of a Taxi. During this interview Thuy turns to him and said “do you realize we are the only nation in the world that has defeated 3 out of the 5 permanent members of the united nations security council?” (Appy XVIII). I think the decision Appy made to use oral history is wise because I feel like you get a more authentic view of what happened and how things happened when you interview a person instead of just researching what other people have come up with. People can twist things in a whatever way they want to to make you see things the way they want you to but with
Storytelling is the primary means of teaching tradition from one generation to the next generation (Rybak & Decker-Fitts, 2009, p. 337). Although elders have high respect, most likely the parents and grandparents will not make decisions for the young. Native Americans believe that no person has the right to speak for another (Hodgins & Hodgins, 2013, p. 449). Parents are usually lenient in their child raising practices. For instance, a child can decide if they want to live with an extended family member (Hodgins & Hodgins, 2013,
Culture by definition is the set of shared attitudes, values, goals and practices, as well as customary beliefs, social forms and material traits that characterize a racial, religious or ...
The distinctive culture is not a man made object, tools, or other tangible cultural elements but how the members of the group interpret, use, and perceive them. It is still fresh in my memory the shock I got when I came to this country. This country has a unique superficial culture, I could not imagine. The way people treat each other, especially in conversations when they meet you, they may ask you: "How are you doing?" for that incidence be aware that they do not really want to know how you are, and if you make the mistake of actually giving them a detailed account of yourself, they will deliberately avoid you for weeks. In addition, you are required to immediately embrace all new knowledge with the standard response "Nice to meet you." ...
For the Oral History project, I decided to gain a perception of American society from an individual that has experienced discrimination and persecution in the United States because of their race and sexual orientation. “Mr. Wilson” identifies himself as biracial male that has considered himself to be LGBTQIA+ for the past twenty years and over the course of his life, he has been victimized for his identification in both groups. Within our interview sessions, we have explored the topics of how individuals that identify themselves as being members of those groups (identifying with one group only and identifying with both) experience life in our society. Our conversation had an underlying theme of social justice and diversity that we chose to
Lets start by understanding that cultures are a melting pot of people’s beliefs, language, behaviors, values, material objects, and norms. Norms are written and non-written “expectations of behavior” that govern a certain location, place, or culture (26). These norms also vary from culture to culture meaning what is a norm in the U.S may not be a norm in India. For example, a norm in America would be tipping a waiter after a meal. Another would be acknowledging someone as you walk past him or her, typically done at work or in a public place. In all, norms are folkways, mores, taboos, and written laws that are an established standard of one’s behavior.
Cultures are a system of knowledge shared by a relatively large group of people. It includes a system of shared beliefs, values, symbols, and behaviors. No two cultures are the same. We are living in a mixed culture setting where a wide variety of nationalities exist together. I interview my friend from class, Cynthia Wilder, who is Jamaican and compared myself to her since I am an Indian. Although Indian and Jamaican cultures are not the same, they share many things in common.
Culture is the social behavior and norms found in a particular group of people and society, defined by everything from language, religion, food, habits, music, and values. In one line, culture is the people's way of life. Culture is also the distinction between nature and nurture. The term nature means what we get biologically or naturally and the term nurture means how our surroundings shape our identities. People genetically get some ability and similarity just like their family members. But in some case, their culture may be similar or different. If a child born in an Indian society and raised in the European society, that child may follow European culture more effectively. Cultural sociologists study for how different cultural elements