Capturing Socio-cultural Diversity And Change Through Oral Literature

Abstract

Oral literature is dynamic. It changes and grows to accommodate the changing times and trends in the human world. The onset of digital technology has meant that oral literature has to adopt it if it is to retain its functional and aesthetic place in society. Some oral literature scholars and researchers have argued that the advent of technology and other changes in society are killing oral literature. My argument in this paper is that oral literature is not a dying art; instead, it is taking different and more resilient forms in this digital age. My focus will be on various digital texts including two VCD recordings of an interethnic (Gikuyu and Samburu) wedding ceremony and a modern day (Gikuyu) thanksgiving ceremony. My essay assesses how digitization of oral literature reveals dynamism in terms of style, content, performers, and dissemination.