The
essay 'Sharing Tradition' is about passing on culture and values from
generation to generation through oral tradition. For this, we must listen to
our elders’ stories.
About the author Frank LaPena
Frank LaPena (1937-2019)
was born in San Francisco, California. He attended a federal Indian boarding
school in Stewart, Nevada. He received his Bachelor of Arts degree from Chico
State in 1965 and a Master of Arts in Anthropology at Sac State in 1978. He
lectured widely on American Indian traditional and cultural issues, emphasizing
California traditions.
The essay 'Sharing Tradition' is about passing on
(hand over) culture and values from generation
to generation through oral
tradition. For
this, we must listen to our elders’ stories.
Concept
-Oral Tradition: Oral
tradition is the information passed down through the generations by word of mouth that is not written down.
Oral traditions are messages that are transmitted orally from one
generation to another. The messages may be passed down through speech or song and may take the form of folktales (लोककथा)and fables (दन्त्यकथा), epic (महाकाव्य) histories and narrations (वर्णन), proverbs (उखान) or sayings, songs, ballads (गाथा), chants, prose (गद्य) or verses (छन्द).
It's a form of human
communication in which
knowledge, art, ideas, and cultural material is received, preserved (संरक्षित), and transmitted
verbally (मौखिक) from one
generation to another.
In a general sense, “oral tradition”
refers to the recall (स्मरण) and transmission of a specific (निश्चित), preserved
cultural knowledge through vocal utterance.
Importance of Oral Tradition
Oral tradition is important in all societies,
despite the reliance (विश्वास)
of some cultures on written records and accounts. These
traditions assist people in educating the young and teaching important lessons
about the past and life.
Oral Traditions make it possible for a society to
pass knowledge across generations without writing. They help people make sense
of the world and are used to teach children and adults about important aspects
of their culture. Oral traditions guide social and human morals.
Through oral and historical literature, our
knowledge about society is widened.
According to the writer, the major importance of
oral tradition is related to the conservation (संरक्षण) of culture and tradition across generations. He takes
oral tradition as an educational tool for understanding the natural world. He adds that the elders have to transmit the
knowledge and the young people have to be willing (इच्छुक) to receive it. If
knowledge about culture, tradition, and custom (चलन) is not passed on,
culture tradition and custom is likely to disappear (हराउनु) in the course of
time.
Purpose of Oral Tradition
Once, there were no books and not a single person
knew how to read or write. Yet people still had rich cultures and stories that
were important to their way of life. All over the world, societies kept their
folklore, rituals, and traditions alive for many generations through stories, songs, speeches, sermons, dances, and other non-written forms of communication. Even
today, cultures continue to pass on important information through oral
tradition.
Role of elders and young people to preserve tradition
The elders and young people play a vital (महत्वपूर्ण) role to maintain
(कायम राख्नु) and preserve the
values of the culture. According to the writer, the knowledge of elders related
to cultures, traditions, religions, and values must be listened to and followed
properly by young people. The elders share the traditions and various concepts
related to culture and values with the young people. Once elderly people die,
young people have to fill up their places being responsible. They (young
people) have to take responsibility for sharing traditions after elders through
oral tradition to maintain cultures and values in their community. This way,
the oral tradition keeps on moving from generation to generation, and cultures
and values are preserved. Young people can make elders alive maintaining their
concepts of tradition and knowledge of life in the community.
Obstacles of oral tradition
a) Inability of the young people to fill the niche (स्थान)
→ When
elders pass away, their knowledge of culture and responsibilities have to be
assumed (अपनाउनु)
by the other individuals. But the young people don't pay much attention to the
culture, tradition, and customs shared by the elders when the elders are alive.
As a result, the new generation cannot fulfill this responsibility sincerely.
b) Emergence
of new technology
→ The
young people are so engrossed (तल्लीन) in the new technology that they have no time to
listen to their elders. In the name of development, various changes are being
made in this natural world. Traditional things are replaced with new things.
The growing populations make necessary new developments that replace (बदल्नु) fertile (उर्वर) land with housing
and impact the natural resources of air and water. Part of the tradition is
tied to a natural world that is being destroyed. Modem technology and their
loneliness (एक्लोपन)
have separated them from each other. In this situation, it is difficult to
maintain tradition and cultural values through oral means due to the lack (अभाव) of active
listeners or followers.
c)
Impact (प्रभाव) of the
modern education system
→ The
knowledge in the present time relies on (निर्भर हुनु) research and collected
data. The oral
materials which researchers get in the field related to tradition may not be
correct. The information related to oral tradition is even modified (परिमार्जित) while printing.
The educational system forces people to accept the information from the printed
pages which may be full of errors. Again, it is harder to correct errors in a
book if it is already published. In this way, the published information related
to cultures and values misguides people by passing on cultures.
d)
Possibility of misrepresentation
→ As the oral tradition is based on oral means; the
information of the elders is likely to be perceived mistakenly by the young
people thereby leading to the misrepresentation (गलत बयान) of the tradition,
custom, and culture.
Difference between oral tradition and a literary tradition
A literary tradition refers to both written and printed traditions in which information is transmitted through written form. According to him, mistakes can be modified and corrected in the oral tradition but it is not possible in the literary tradition. He finally concludes the essay by establishing a relationship between art and oral tradition. The oral tradition offers the artistic imagination to the artist shaping his view on how to visualize the stories, the characters, the designs and colors for art, the atmosphere, etc.