FYWS 151-04, Oral History and Oral Tradition, Fall 2014

Abstract

In today’s world with its dependence on print and electronic media, it is worthwhile to ask ourselves what roles the spoken word continues to play in our society and in our lives. In what ways are oral traditions embedded in historical sources, and how might history, in turn, derive from oral tradition? In what ways do our own traditions inform our responses to fiction, history, and the world around us? What ethical and social issues are involved in the collection of oral histories or traditional narratives? These and related questions will help guide our reading and discussion across four units, each of which will culminate in a tightly focused paper. Our first unit will involve work with the oral history collections of Crossroads to Freedom, a digital, multimedia archive sponsored by Rhodes College that documents Memphis in the Civil Rights era. Next, we will explore how works of fiction can incorporate concepts from oral history by reading Max Brooks’ World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War. In the third unit, you will be asked to research oral traditions within your own families or communities, applying relevant approaches and concepts from The Oral History Reader (Routledge). Finally, you will research a specific oral tradition or oral history collection, drawing extensively on print and electronic library resources in the preparation of an annotated bibliography and research project. Throughout the entire semester, we will analyze various modes of oral and written communication with the primary goal of increasing awareness of the complex factors that guide our many choices as writers.