THE CONTINUED RELEVANCE OF ORAL DOCUMENTATION IN THE STUDY OF AFRICAN CULTURES
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Cultural Research Publishers (A division of Cultural research consults) P. 0. Box 157 Issele-uku. Delta State. Nigeria And P. 0. Box 2302 Uyo, Akwa Ibom State Nigeria
Abstract
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There is a growing debate on the usefulness or
otherwise of oral documentation in the study of
African cultures. This debate is borne out of the fact
that, methods and media of information gathering,
storage, and documentation have grown in
. sophistication and complexity. This has made it
possible for an incredibly large volume of data to be
stored in simple devices with an equally incredible
amount of efficiency. The urge therefore is to
discourage oral documentation in the light of the
many draw backs associated with it. For instance,
there is a limit to which large volume of data could be
stored in the human memory and transmitted to
future generations over a long period of time. Other associated problems include: issue of bias and
deliberate manipulation, establishing a reliable
chronological and dating framework, quantification
and language shift. These notwithstanding, the
usefulness of oral documentation in the
contemporary study of African cultures cannot be
glossed over. It helps Africans to tell their own story
by themselves, it has been found useful in refuting
some euro centric views about African history e3:nd
culture. In addition to assisting in finding solutions to
political problems such as chieftaincy disputes. and
land matters it has equally been found useful by the
present generation of African's political leaders as
veritable instruments of teaching the youths about
their past. The paper ends on a note of caution.
Those who are interested in oral documentation
must do so with caution, if the data obtained will be
reliable.
Keywords
HM Sociology