From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia

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Oral literature corresponds in the sphere of the spoken (oral) word to literature as literature operates in the domain of the written word. It thus forms a generally more fundamental component of culture, but operates in many ways as one might expect literature to do.

Pre-literate societies, by definition, have no written literature, but may possess rich and varied oral traditions—such as folk epics, folklore and folksong—that effectively constitute an oral literature.

Literate societies may continue an oral tradition - particularly within the family (for example bedtime stories) or informal social structures. The telling of urban legends may be considered an example of oral literature, as can jokes.

Performance poetry is a genre of poetry that consciously shuns the written form.

See also

• Oral history
• Intangible culture
• Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity
• Ethnopoetics
• Patha
• Akyn
• Improvisation
• National epic
• Storytelling
• Seanachai
• Korean storytelling
• Kamishibai
• Orality