ORAL CULTURE AND WRITING OBSESSION

Abstract

In cultural history, oral cultural narratives have a priority in the transfer of knowledge and experience. However, in the face of the dominant culture of the written tradition, which has come into play as a political tool and necessarily, although the oral culture did not disappear, its meaning and function changed. Along with the fact that oral narratives are the subject of scientific research, the meaning change has gained a new dimension due to the textualism that prevails in the minds of researchers. Oral cultural narratives have been evaluated as arbitrary, imaginary fictions as remnants of the past and cultural heritage in societies dominated by textuality. On the other hand, in societies where oral culture is dominant, verbal narratives take place in the social memory based on the functions they perform and fulfill important functions in the reproduction of sociality. Therefore, in understanding and analyzing the verbal narratives, it is necessary to start from the sociality they are produced from. This study focuses on the difference between written and oral culture and the importance of an anthropological perspective in understanding oral narratives.