NARRATIVE ACROSS CULTURES AND MEDIA: ORALITY AND LITERARY TRADITIONS

Abstract [English]

The most basic human expression forms through storytelling which people consider to be their most essential form of expression. People from different cultures and historical times have used storytelling to share their experiences and to protect their memories while they describe how society functions. People use narrative because they believe it exists as an inherent human thought process which applies to their personal existence and to their shared human history and social relationships. People use narrative to connect their inner thoughts with cultural traditions, which create their personal identity and their understanding of the world. Societies which lack written language have relied on storytelling to transmit their knowledge and maintain their traditional cultural practices. Through oral storytelling, people used tales and songs and epics to deliver entertainment while they also preserved historical events and moral teachings and community identity. The legendary blind poet Homer serves as a symbol of oral creativity because he demonstrates how non-literate cultures use their imaginative abilities. The modern novel developed from oral traditions which historians consider to be its most essential roots. Storytelling serves as the main element of literary creativity because it develops from one person speaking to others into permanent text. All human storytelling functions through fictional stories which create their own narrative paths to reach their final form. The storytelling process includes personal stories and witness accounts and descriptions of actual events. The novel establishes itself as the primary literary form for all future literature after this period. This research examines how storytelling and narrative and truth function throughout oral and written cultures, which challenges the basic beliefs that supports literary theory and anthropology and social science research.