Editing Oral tradition (section)

=== Africa ===
[[File:Sénégal-Chef indigène et son griot (AOF) cropped.jpg|thumb|Griot for a native ruler in Senegal]]
In Africa, the oral tradition includes proverbs, folktales, songs, dances, customs, traditional medicine, religious practices, and cultural sayings that are told and expressed to teach lessons about life, social systems, religion, and spirituality.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Iheanacho |first1=Valentine U. |title=The significance of African oral tradition in the making of African Christianity |journal=HTS Teologiese Studies |date=2021 |volume=77 |issue=2 |doi=10.4102/hts.v77i2.6819 |url=https://hts.org.za/index.php/hts/article/view/6819 |access-date=19 March 2025|doi-access=free }}</ref> All [[List of Indigenous peoples|indigenous African societies]] use oral tradition to learn their origin and [[History of Africa|history]], civic and religious duties, crafts and skills, as well as traditional myths and [[legend]]s.<ref name=":3">{{cite journal |last1=Cooper |first1=Grace C. |title=Oral Tradition in African Societies |journal=Negro History Bulletin |date=1983 |volume=46 |issue=4 |pages=101–103 |jstor=44246885 }}</ref> It is also a key socio-cultural component in the practice of their [[Traditional African religions|traditional spiritualities]], as well as mainstream [[Abrahamic religions]].<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Iheanacho |first1=Valentine U. |title=The significance of African oral tradition in the making of African Christianity |journal=HTS Teologiese Studies / Theological Studies |date=22 September 2021 |volume=77 |issue=2 |id={{Gale|A679072762}} {{ProQuest|2582693440}} |doi=10.4102/hts.v77i2.6819 |s2cid=240523785 |doi-access=free }}</ref> The prioritisation of the spoken word is evidenced by African societies having chosen to record history orally whilst some had [[Writing systems of Africa|developed]] or had access to a [[Writing system|writing script]]. [[Jan Vansina]] differentiates between ''oral'' and ''literate'' civilisations, stating: "The attitude of members of an oral society toward [[spoken word|speech]] is similar to the reverence members of a literate society attach to the [[written word]]. If it is hallowed by authority or antiquity, the word will be treasured." For centuries in Europe, all data felt to be important were written down, with the most important texts prioritised, such as [[Bible]], and only trivia, such as song, legend, anecdote, and proverbs remained unrecorded. In Africa, all the principal political, legal, social, and religious texts were transmitted orally. When the [[Bamum people|Bamums]] in Cameroon [[Writing systems of Africa#West Africa|invented a script]], the first to be written down was the [[chronicle|royal chronicle]] and the code of [[customary law]]. Most African courts had archivists who learnt by heart the royal genealogy and history of the state, and served as its [[unwritten constitution]].

The performance of a tradition is accentuated and rendered alive by various gesture, social conventions and the unique occasion in which it is performed.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Ebine |first=SA |title=The Roles of Griots in African Oral Tradition among the Manding |journal=International Journal of Research |volume=11 |issue=1 |year=2019 |url=https://www.globalacademicgroup.com/journals/approaches/V11N1P23-2019_Approaches.pdf}}</ref> Furthermore, the climate in which traditions are told influences its content. In [[Burundi]], traditions were short because most of them were told at informal gatherings and everyone had to have his say during the evening; in neighbouring [[Rwanda]], many narratives were spun-out because a one-man professional had to entertain his patron for a whole evening, with every production checked by fellow specialists and errors punishable. Frequently, [[gloss (annotation)|glosses]] or [[Commentary (philology)|commentaries]] were presented parallel to the narrative, sometimes answering questions from the audience to ensure understanding, although often someone would learn a tradition without asking their master questions and not really understand the meaning of its content, leading them to speculate in the commentary.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Ebine |first=SA |title=The Roles of Griots in African Oral Tradition among the Manding |journal=International Journal of Research |volume=11 |issue=1 |year=2019 |url=https://www.globalacademicgroup.com/journals/approaches/V11N1P23-2019_Approaches.pdf}}</ref> Oral traditions only exist when they are told, except for in people's minds, and so the frequency of telling a tradition aids its preservation.<ref name="Vansina 1971 442–468">{{cite journal |last=Vansina |first=Jan |title=Once upon a Time: Oral Traditions as History in Africa |journal=Daedalus |volume=100 |issue=2 |year=1971 |pages=442–468 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/20024011 |publisher=MIT Press|jstor=20024011 }}</ref> These African ethnic groups also utilize oral tradition to develop and train the human intellect, and the memory to retain information and sharpen imagination.<ref name=":3" />

====West Africa====
[[File:Balafon griot (1).jpg|thumb|Balafon griot]]
{{See also|Griot|History of the Soninke people|Oral history in modern Mali|Epic of Sundiata|Kouroukan Fouga|Kwagh-Hir|Gassire's lute|Oríkì|Mbeku|Agadzagadza|Asebu Amanfi|Anansi}}
Perhaps the most famous repository of oral tradition is the west African [[griot]] (named differently in different languages).<ref>{{cite web |last1=Abdul-Fattah |first1=Hakimah |title=How Griots Tell Legendary Epics through Stories and Songs in West Africa |url=https://www.metmuseum.org/perspectives/sahel-sunjata-stories-songs |website=The Metropolitan Museum of Art |date=20 April 2020 |access-date=25 November 2024}}</ref> The griot is a hereditary position and exists in [[Dyula people|Dyula]], [[Soninke people|Soninke]], [[Fula people|Fula]], [[Hausa people|Hausa]], [[Songhai people|Songhai]], [[Wolof people|Wolof]], [[Serer people|Serer]], and [[Mossi people|Mossi]] societies among many others, although more famously in [[Mandingo people|Mandinka society]]. They constitute a [[caste]] and perform a range of roles, including as a historian or library, musician, poet, [[mediation|mediator]] of family and tribal disputes, spokesperson, and served in the king's court,<ref>{{cite web |last1=Iantosca |first1=Caroline |title=Music and Storytelling in West Africa |url=https://worldview.unc.edu/news-article/music-and-storytelling-in-west-africa/#:~:text=If%20you%20were%20born%20into,of%20your%20village%20and%20family. |website=The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill |publisher=UNC Chapel Hill |access-date=25 November 2024}}</ref> not dissimilar from the European [[bard]]. They keep records of all births, death, and marriages through the generations of the village or family. When [[Sundiata Keita]] founded the [[Mali Empire]], he was offered [[Balla Fasséké]] as his griot to advise him during his reign, giving rise to the [[Kouyate family|Kouyate line of griots]]. Griots often accompany their telling of oral tradition with a musical instrument, as the ''[[Epic of Sundiata]]'' is accompanied by the [[balafon]], or as the [[Kora (instrument)|kora]] accompanies other traditions.<ref>{{cite web |title=The Sundiata Epic: Griots, Words, Songs and Performance |url=https://www.brandeis.edu/compact/programs/global-community-engagement/2024-2025/mali-residency.html |website=Brandeis University |access-date=25 November 2024}}</ref> In modern times, some griots and descendants of griots have dropped their historian role and focus on music, with many finding success, however many still maintain their traditional roles.

====East Africa====
{{See also|Empire of Kitara|Kilwa Chronicle|Hainteny|Ebyevugo|Ibonia|Fumo Liyongo|Ibitekerezo|Azmari}}

Kenya safeguarded its oral tradition by ratifying the UNESCO Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage in October 2007.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Nyangila |first1=Jacob |title=Safeguarding Endangered Oral Traditions in East Africa |journal=National Museums of Kenya - UNESCO |date=2008 |url=https://www.academia.edu/63377949 |access-date=13 January 2025}}</ref>

====North Africa====
{{See also|Malhun|T'heydinn|Asefru}}

====Central Africa====
{{See also|Mwindo epic}}

====Southern Africa====
{{See also|The Child with a Moon on his Chest (Sotho)|South African folklore|Afrikaans folklore|Emperor Shaka the Great}}