WHAT ARE ORAL SOURCES? (WITH EXAMPLES) - CULTURE VOCABULARY - 2025

The oral sources are not written documents that may contain historical information or documentary, widely used by researchers from multiple disciplines.

Oral sources, or the transmission of knowledge narrated by voice, have allowed many stories and valuable information to endure for years.

Through this route they could even reach the ears of scribes, in charge of putting knowledge on paper in illiterate societies throughout the centuries.

Oral sources within the field of historiography have been taken with caution in many cases, and their examination and criticism are required prior to their use.

Considerations

Oral sources or oral history is part of the so-called historical science or historiography, being a means of knowledge for the study of the past.

This tradition has allowed that for generations have been preserved data of interest on multiple aspects of life: myths and legends, historical events such as wars and celebrations, and natural events such as earthquakes or volcanic eruptions.

Descriptions of extinct animals, uses of medicinal plants, and other relevant elements characteristic of human performance have also been preserved.

The 3 main types of oral sources

There are several types of oral sources. There are direct and indirect testimonies and oral traditions, which in turn are divided into sayings, songs, stories, legends, myths and life stories.

1- Direct testimonials

Direct testimonials are the type of face-to-face testimony in which an individual conveys information from their experience or observation.

Example

When a person is interviewed and recorded by means of a camera or tape recorder. This narrative is later transcribed or can remain as an audiovisual source, and can be transformed into an autobiography.

2- Indirect testimonials

Indirect testimonies are the narrations related to what a person tells about what they heard from third parties.

Example

When a shaman or healer tells the information that his parents and grandparents transmitted to him about medicinal plants.

3- Oral traditions

Oral traditions are one of the most precious sources for the studies of history.

Thanks to these, the chain of information transmission moves for several decades and even centuries. Oral traditions are made up of sayings, songs, stories, legends, myths, and life stories.

Sayings

Restraints are one of the traditions that tend to vary the least. All kinds of information are extracted from these statements.

Example

With the saying "Christmas comes to every pig", it can be determined that a group of people is used to consuming pork during a particular date or holiday. Starting from the oral source, specific information is extracted.

Songs, stories, legends and myths

With the songs, stories, legends and myths you also obtain precious information about the life and beliefs of peoples and communities.

Example

Epic poems such as Beowulf's, the Song of the Nibelungs, the Song of Mío Cid or the Song of Roldán, narrate fabulous stories that were possibly transmitted by indirect testimonies for generations, until they became manuscripts.

Life stories

Finally, life stories can reconstruct an individual's own experiences. From there, the biographical method can be developed, which is part of qualitative research in the social sciences.

Example

With the life stories and epistles written by the apostles on the life of Jesus of Nazareth, the life of the most important figure of Christianity could be reconstructed .

References

1. Azcona, J. (2015). Oral sources. Retrieved on December 17, 2017 from: books.google.es
2. History and oral sources: "Oral sources between memory and history." (2007). VIII Day the Boat of Ávila.
3. Mendiola, F. (2007). Voices and images in history. Oral and visual sources: historical research and pedagogical renewal. Navarra: Public University of Navarra. Retrieved on December 17, 2017 from: books.google.es
4. Ferrando, E. (2006). Oral sources and historical research. Retrieved on December 17, 2017 from: books.google.es
5. Borras, J. (1989). Oral sources and history teaching: contributions and problems. Retrieved on December 17, 2017 from: books.google.es