oral literature

Stories that are or have been transmitted in spoken form, such as public recitation, rather than through writing or printing.

Most pre-literate societies have had a tradition of oral literature, including short folk tales, legends, myths, proverbs, and riddles, as well as longer narrative works; and most of the ancient epics – such as the Greek Odyssey and the Mesopotamian Gilgamesh – seem to have been composed and added to over many centuries before they were committed to writing.

Some ancient stories from oral traditions were not written down as literary works until the 19th century, such as the Finnish Kalevala (1835–49); many fairy tales, such as those collected in Germany by the Grimm brothers, also come into this category. Much of this sort of folk literature may have been consciously embellished and altered, as happened in 19th-century Europe for nationalistic purposes.

 Oral literatures have continued to influence the development of national written literatures in the 20th century, particularly in Africa, central Asia, and Australia. Russian investigations and studies of oral literature in the Balkans, originally undertaken to illuminate the oral basis of Homeric narrative, have prompted collections and scientific studies in many other parts of the world.