Oral tradition as history /

An oral tradition is a message passed on by word of mouth from generation to generation. The ``process'' of this tradition is the totality of circumstances that retain or change the message and its meaning as it is transmitted. Even in societies compulsive about ``getting it down on paper,'' such as the US, the bulk of daily life decade after decade is guided by oral tradition rather than written communication. It was not until the anthropology of complex non-Western civilizations had developed in the 1950s, however, that much attention was paid to the methodological significance of oral traditions as sources of history. Vansina's original study, Oral Tradition (1965), did much to establish what is now itself a subtradition in historiography. Oral Tradition as History is a revised version of that study, greatly enriched by reference to a vast amount of work done by others in the intervening two decades. Separate chapters examine the various forms of oral traditions, their performative aspects, and the meanings and social contextualizations of ``remembered'' information. A necessary addition to all serious collections in historiography and anthropological method, this work should not, however, be mistaken by enthusiastic amateurs with tape recorders for a manual on ``how to do local oral history projects.'' Notes, bibliography, and 53-page index. Upper-division undergraduates and above.-C. Morrison, Michigan State University