Language — Oral Tradition

The Four R’s of Oral Tradition

The “Four R’s” of oral tradition are Rhythm, Rhyme, Resonance, and Repetition.

In Shakespeare’s time, most people did not read — including many of the actors who memorized their parts by listening to someone else say or read the words aloud. The playwright eased the process with the Four R’s.

No translation of Shakespeare is necessary when heard, not read. Even in our mostly untrained brains, the oral pathways are present and wake right up to their task.

Two hundred years before Shakespeare, Geoffrey Chaucer had pilgrims telling each other stories on their way to Canterbury. It is a recorded collection of the oral tradition cleverly narrated by a rich cast of archetypal characters. No one since them in English has come close to what Shakespeare and Chaucer did — because in the Renaissance we began shifting to a visual orientation and reading/writing literacy.

Memory Capacity in Oral Cultures

Oral cultures require much more use of memory. People who train themselves to listen well are also developing their memory capacities.

Commentary on Oral Cultures

From Nils Peterson, poet and long-time professor of Shakespeare:

One of the great gifts of language was the ability to pass what we observed along to the next generation. How did we do that? By training memory so that each generation would not have to begin looking all over again. But then came writing.

From Plato’s Phaedrus: “And so it is that you by reason of your tender regard for the writing that is your offspring have declared the very opposite of its true effect. If men learn this, it will implant forgetfulness in their souls. They will cease to exercise memory because they rely on that which is written, calling things to remembrance no longer from within themselves, but by means of external marks. What you have discovered is a recipe not for memory, but for reminder. And it is no true wisdom that you offer your disciples, but only the semblance of wisdom, for by telling them of many things without teaching them you will make them seem to know much while for the most part they know nothing. And as men filled not with wisdom but with the conceit of wisdom they will be a burden to their fellows.”

A couple of things here: one, clearly memory is something like a muscle — it grows with use, and like a muscle it can be trained in a task, an arduous task. The other thing that Plato suggests is that there is a difference in calling up a fact from one’s memory and calling up a fact from the internet. The fact is different to you. “What you have discovered is a recipe not for memory, but for reminder… for by telling them of many things without teaching them you will make them seem to know much while for the most part they know nothing.”

We are close to being able to plug something into a slot in our skulls that would enable us to play the piano as well as the finest pianist. Would we want that? Isn’t it true that what we want is the agony of learning? We are changed by that process, made different by our failures and successes, by our choice to practice or not. As with so many things, the process is the reward, not the product. The plug-in pianist is filled not with music but with the conceit of music — to paraphrase Plato. There is life, and the imitation of life.

— Nils Peterson

Current Research on Oral Cultures

Reading, listening and memory | Peter Kerry Powers suggests that sustained engagement with oral traditions may actually enhance cognitive capacity for memory retention.

The sophistication of oral memory techniques extends far beyond simple rote learning. Traditional storytellers and knowledge keepers developed complex systems of cross-referencing, where repeated elements served as navigational aids through vast repositories of cultural knowledge, genealogies, historical accounts, and practical wisdom.

The Neuroscience of Repetition and Memory

Oral cultures have employed various strategies to achieve strong retention without writing, including “a heavily rhythmic speech filled with mnemonic devices [that] enhances memory and recall,” with useful devices including “alliteration, repetition, assonance, and proverbial sayings.” (Oral tradition — Wikipedia)

This creates what researchers call the “production effect” — the dual action of speaking and hearing oneself that has the most beneficial impact on memory. (Neuroscience News / Waterloo News)

Recent studies from the University of Waterloo demonstrate that memory retention was strongest when reading aloud directly, suggesting that the impact came not just from hearing the words but also speaking them — because verbally pronouncing a word creates a memorable experience. (Scientific Learning) This finding validates what oral cultures have intuitively understood for millennia.