The Wovea are an ethnic group native to coastal areas of the Fako division of the Southwest Province of Cameroon . The Wovea are one of the ethnic groups that comprise the Sawa, or Cameroonian coastal peoples.
116-494: Wovea oral history names a man from the island of Bioko as their forebear. His ship washed ashore at Mboko, the area southwest of Mount Cameroon . There he married a local woman. They moved southeast and settled at Ambas Bay . The Wovea likely lived along Ambas Bay in the 17th or 18th century. They could have participated in the same migration from Mboko that brought the Bakweri and Isubu to their current territories. During
232-581: A caste and perform a range of roles, including as a historian or library, musician, poet, mediator of family and tribal disputes, spokesperson, and served in the king's court, not dissimilar from the European bard . They keep records of all births, death, and marriages through the generations of the village or family. When Sundiata Keita founded the Mali Empire , he was offered Balla Fasséké as his griot to advise him during his reign, giving rise to
348-542: A writing system , or in parallel to a writing system. It is the most widespread medium of human communication. They often remain in use in the modern era throughout for cultural preservation . Religions such as Buddhism , Hinduism , Catholicism , and Jainism have used oral tradition, in parallel to writing, to transmit their canonical scriptures , rituals , hymns and mythologies. African societies have broadly been labelled oral civilisations , contrasted with literate civilisations , due to their reverence for
464-838: A British League of Nations mandate. The Wovea live south of Mount Cameroon and on the Gulf of Guinea , in the Fako division of the Southwest Province . Their territory lies directly west of that of the Isubu. Fishing is a major form of employment and subsistence. Bobea is the Wovea language. The language had 600 speakers in 1977, although many Wovea speak Duala in lieu of their native tongue. In addition, most Wovea speak Cameroonian Pidgin English or standard English . A growing number of
580-406: A better understanding of Homeric epics. The long oral tradition that has sustained Albanian epic poetry reinforces the idea that pre-Homeric epic poetry was oral. The theory of oral-formulaic composition was developed also through the scholarly study of Albanian epic verse. The Albanian traditional singing of epic verse from memory is one of the last survivors of its kind in modern Europe , and
696-413: A book. Ethical standards within the field require that the conservator fully justify interventive actions and carry out documentation before, during, and after the treatment. One of the guiding principles of conservation of cultural heritage has traditionally been the idea of reversibility, that all interventions with the object should be fully reversible and that the object should be able to be returned to
812-403: A broad set of other cultural and historical works. Conservation of cultural heritage can be described as a type of ethical stewardship . It may broadly be divided into: Conservation of cultural property applies simple ethical guidelines: Often there are compromises between preserving appearance, maintaining original design and material properties, and ability to reverse changes. Reversibility
928-512: A building located in the tropics) or the financial circumstances of the organisation. This has been an area of particular debate for cultural heritage organisations who lend and borrow cultural items to each other - often, the lender will specify strict environmental conditions as part of the loan agreement, which may be very expensive for the borrowing organisation to achieve, or impossible. The energy costs associated with cold storage and digital storage are also gaining more attention. Cold storage
1044-503: A collective or tribal memory extending beyond personal experience but nevertheless representing a shared reality. Native languages have in some cases up to twenty words to describe physical features like rain or snow and can describe the spectra of human emotion in very precise ways, allowing storytellers to offer their own personalized take on a story based on their own lived experiences. Fluidity in story deliverance allowed stories to be applied to different social circumstances according to
1160-568: A document: "Understanding the Future: Priorities for England's Museums". This document was based on several years of consultation aimed to lay out the government's priorities for museums in the 21st century. The document listed the following as priorities for the next decade: The conservation profession response to this report was on the whole less than favourable, the Institute of Conservation (ICON) published their response under
1276-545: A heavily rhythmic speech filled with mnemonic devices enhances memory and recall. A few useful mnemonic devices include alliteration , repetition, assonance , and proverbial sayings. In addition, the verse is often metrically composed with an exact number of syllables or morae —such as with Greek and Latin prosody and in Chandas found in Hindu and Buddhist texts. The verses of the epic or text are typically designed wherein
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#17327652129841392-590: A highly publicized interventive conservation effort would be the conservation work conducted on the Sistine Chapel . Recognising that conservation practices should not harm the environment, harm people, or contribute to global warming , the conservation-restoration profession has more recently focused on practices that reduce waste, reduce energy costs, and minimise the use of toxic or harmful solvents. A number of research projects, working groups, and other initiatives have explored how conservation can become
1508-405: A means of teaching. Plots often reflect real life situations and may be aimed at particular people known by the story's audience. In this way, social pressure could be exerted without directly causing embarrassment or social exclusion . For example, rather than yelling, Inuit parents might deter their children from wandering too close to the water's edge by telling a story about a sea monster with
1624-517: A mixture of freed slaves, working Sawa, and Christianised Sawa from all the various coastal groups. Cameroonian Pidgin English began to develop at this time. In 1905, under German colonial rule, the Wovea were relocated again to their present home west of the Wouri estuary . The Germans designated Mondole Island as a leper colony . After Germany's defeat in World War I , Wovea territory fell under
1740-698: A more environmentally sustainable profession. Sustainable conservation practices apply both to work within cultural institutions (e.g. museums, art galleries, archives, libraries, research centres and historic sites) as well as to businesses and private studios. Conservators and restorers use a wide variety of materials - in conservation treatments, and those used to safely transport, display and store cultural heritage items. These materials can include solvents, papers and boards, fabrics, adhesives and consolidants, plastics and foams, wood products, and many others. Stability and longevity are two important factors conservators consider when selecting materials; sustainability
1856-488: A phenomenon that is explained by the lack of state formation among Albanians and their ancestors – the Illyrians , being able to preserve their "tribally" organized society . This distinguished them from civilizations such as Ancient Egypt , Minoans and Mycenaeans , who underwent state formation and disrupted their traditional memory practices. Albanian epic poetry has been analysed by Homeric scholars to acquire
1972-629: A physical struggle between a Thunderbird and a Whale. One such story tells of the Thunderbird, which can create thunder by moving just a feather, piercing the Whale's flesh with its talons, causing the Whale to dive to the bottom of the ocean, bringing the Thunderbird with it. Another depicts the Thunderbird lifting the Whale from the Earth then dropping it back down. Regional similarities in themes and characters suggests that these stories mutually describe
2088-540: A position of particular importance, as it was believed to be a more reliable medium for information transmission than prose. This belief stemmed from observations that highly structured language, with its rhythmic and phonetic patterns, tended to undergo fewer alterations during oral transmission. Each genre of rhymed poetry served distinct social and cultural functions. These range from spontaneous compositions at celebrations to carefully crafted historical accounts, political commentaries, and entertainment pieces. Among these,
2204-664: A pouch for children within its reach. One single story could provide dozens of lessons. Stories were also used as a means to assess whether traditional cultural ideas and practices are effective in tackling contemporary circumstances or if they should be revised. Native American storytelling is a collaborative experience between storyteller and listeners. Native American tribes generally have not had professional tribal storytellers marked by social status. Stories could and can be told by anyone, with each storyteller using their own vocal inflections, word choice, content, or form. Storytellers not only draw upon their own memories, but also upon
2320-486: A quantity of air to a narrow temperature range (20-22 °C) than to a broad range (18-25 °C). In the past, conservation recommendations have often called for very tight, inflexible temperature and relative humidity set points. In other cases, conservators have recommended strict environmental conditions for buildings that could not reasonably be expected to achieve them, due to the quality of build, local environmental conditions (e.g. recommending temperate conditions for
2436-437: A range of damage-limiting levels. For example, watercolour paintings usually require shielding from sunlight to prevent fading of pigments . Collections care is an important element of museum policy. It is an essential responsibility of members of the museum profession to create and maintain a protective environment for the collections in their care, whether in store, on display, or in transit. A museum should carefully monitor
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#17327652129842552-818: A reason behind indoctrination . Writing systems are not known to exist among Native North Americans before contact with Europeans except among some Mesoamerican cultures, and possibly the South American quipu and North American wampum , although those two are debatable. Oral storytelling traditions flourished in a context without the use of writing to record and preserve history, scientific knowledge, and social practices. While some stories were told for amusement and leisure, most functioned as practical lessons from tribal experience applied to immediate moral, social, psychological, and environmental issues. Stories fuse fictional, supernatural, or otherwise exaggerated characters and circumstances with real emotions and morals as
2668-442: A scientific approach to the care of objects in the collections, but disseminated this approach by publishing a Handbook of Conservation in 1898. The early development of conservation of cultural heritage in any area of the world is usually linked to the creation of positions for chemists within museums. In British archaeology, key research and technical experimentation in conservation was undertaken by women such as Ione Gedye both in
2784-545: A significant role in developing conservation science theory. In recent years ethical concerns have been at the forefront of developments in conservation. Most significantly has been the idea of preventive conservation . This concept is based in part on the pioneering work by Garry Thomson CBE , and his book Museum Environment , first published in 1978. Thomson was associated with the National Gallery in London; it
2900-427: A society, with the latter much more likely to use oral tradition and oral literature even when a writing system has been developed or when having access to one. The Akan proverbs translated as "Ancient things in the ear" and "Ancient things are today" refer to present-day delivery and the past content, and as such oral traditions are both simultaneously expressions of the past and the present. Vansina says that to ignore
3016-605: A study published in February 2020, new evidence showed that both Budj Bim and Tower Hill volcanoes erupted between 34,000 and 40,000 years ago. Significantly, this is a "minimum age constraint for human presence in Victoria ", and also could be interpreted as evidence for the oral histories of the Gunditjmara people, an Aboriginal Australian people of south-western Victoria, which tell of volcanic eruptions being some of
3132-399: A viable source of evidence for establishing the affiliation between cultural objects and Native Nations. Oral traditions face the challenge of accurate transmission and verifiability of the accurate version, particularly when the culture lacks written language or has limited access to writing tools. Oral cultures have employed various strategies that achieve this without writing. For example,
3248-583: A written intermediate, and they can also be applied to oral governance. Rudyard Kipling 's The Jungle Book provides an excellent demonstration of oral governance in the Law of the Jungle . Not only does grounding rules in oral proverbs allow for simple transmission and understanding, but it also legitimizes new rulings by allowing extrapolation. These stories, traditions, and proverbs are not static, but are often altered upon each transmission, barring any change to
3364-407: Is a major factor in the complexity of preserving digital heritage such as video games , social media , messaging services, and email . Other areas where energy use can be reduced within conservation and restoration include: Heritage Preservation, in partnership with the Institute of Museum and Library Services , a U.S. federal agency, produced The Heritage Health Index. The results of this work
3480-406: Is a very effective strategy to preserve at-risk collections such as cellulose nitrate and cellulose acetate film, which can deteriorate beyond use within decades at ambient conditions. Digital storage costs are rising for both born-digital cultural heritage (photographs, audiovisual, time-based media) and to store digital preservation and access copies of cultural heritage. Digital storage capacity
3596-457: Is also a key socio-cultural component in the practice of their traditional spiritualities , as well as mainstream Abrahamic religions . The prioritisation of the spoken word is evidenced by African societies having chosen to record history orally whilst some had developed or had access to a writing script . Jan Vansina differentiates between oral and literate civilisations, stating: "The attitude of members of an oral society toward speech
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3712-495: Is becoming an increasingly important third. Examples of sustainable material choices and practices include: These decisions are not always straightforward - for example, installing deionised or distilled water filters in laboratories reduces waste associated with purchasing bottled products, but increases energy consumption. Similarly, locally-made papers and boards may reduce inherent carbon miles but they may be made with pulp sourced from old growth forests. Another dilemma
3828-582: Is believed to be the first and the oldest continuously operating art restoration company in the United States. The focus of conservation development then accelerated in Britain and America, and it was in Britain that the first International Conservation Organisations developed. The International Institute for Conservation of Historic and Artistic Works (IIC) was incorporated under British law in 1950 as "a permanent organization to co-ordinate and improve
3944-718: Is closely allied with conservation science , curators and registrars . Conservation of cultural property involves protection and restoration using "any methods that prove effective in keeping that property in as close to its original condition as possible for as long as possible." Conservation of cultural heritage is often associated with art collections and museums and involves collection care and management through tracking, examination, documentation, exhibition, storage, preventive conservation, and restoration. The scope has widened from art conservation, involving protection and care of artwork and architecture, to conservation of cultural heritage, also including protection and care of
4060-493: Is distinct from oral history , which is the recording of personal testimony of those who experienced historical eras or events. Oral tradition is also distinct from the study of orality , defined as thought and its verbal expression in societies where the technologies of literacy (writing and print) are unfamiliar. Folklore is one albeit not the only type of oral tradition. According to John Foley, oral tradition has been an ancient human tradition found in "all corners of
4176-693: Is estimated to increase its usable life by over 100 years. Controlling the relative humidity of air helps to reduce hydrolysis reactions and minimises cracking, distortion and other physical changes in hygroscopic materials. Changes in temperature will also bring about changes in relative humidity. Therefore, the conservation profession has placed great importance on controlling indoor environments . Temperature and humidity can be controlled through passive means (e.g. insulation , building design) or active means ( air conditioning ). Active controls typically require much higher energy use. Energy use increases with specificity - e.g. in will require more energy to maintain
4292-484: Is now emphasized so as to reduce problems with future treatment, investigation, and use. In order for conservators to decide upon an appropriate conservation strategy and apply their professional expertise accordingly, they must take into account views of the stakeholder , the values , artist's intent, meaning of the work, and the physical needs of the material. Cesare Brandi in his Theory of Restoration , describes restoration as "the methodological moment in which
4408-513: Is performed. Furthermore, the climate in which traditions are told influences its content. In Burundi , traditions were short because most of them were told at informal gatherings and everyone had to have his say during the evening; in neighbouring Rwanda , many narratives were spun-out because a one-man professional had to entertain his patron for a whole evening, with every production checked by fellow specialists and errors punishable. Frequently, glosses or commentaries were presented parallel to
4524-536: Is similar to the reverence members of a literate society attach to the written word . If it is hallowed by authority or antiquity, the word will be treasured." For centuries in Europe, all data felt to be important were written down, with the most important texts prioritised, such as Bible , and only trivia, such as song, legend, anecdote, and proverbs remained unrecorded. In Africa, all the principal political, legal, social, and religious texts were transmitted orally. When
4640-546: Is still cited regularly. Only a few dates and descriptions in Gettens' and Stout's book are now outdated. George T. Oliver, of Oliver Brothers Art Restoration and Art Conservation-Boston (Est. 1850 in New York City) invented the vacuum hot table for relining paintings in 1920s; he filed a patent for the table in 1937. Taylor's prototype table, which he designed and constructed, is still in operation. Oliver Brothers
4756-493: Is testified to by the preservation of the most ancient Indian religious text, the Ṛgveda ( c. 1500 BCE ). Research by Milman Parry and Albert Lord indicates that the verse of the Greek poet Homer has been passed down not by rote memorization but by " oral-formulaic composition ". In this process, extempore composition is aided by use of stock phrases or "formulas" (expressions that are used regularly "under
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4872-563: Is that many conservation-grade materials are chosen because they do not biodegrade. For example, when selecting a plastic with which to make storage enclosures, conservators prefer to use relatively long-lived plastics because they have better ageing properties - they are less likely to become yellow, leach plasticisers, or lose structural integrity and crumble (examples include polyethylene , polypropylene , and polyester ). These plastics will also take longer to degrade in landfill. Many conservators and cultural organisations have sought to reduce
4988-399: Is through speech or song and may include folktales , ballads , chants , prose or poetry . The information is mentally recorded by oral repositories , sometimes termed "walking libraries", who are usually also performers. Oral tradition is a medium of communication for a society to transmit oral history , oral literature , oral law and other knowledge across generations without
5104-656: The Anglophones today grow up with Pidgin as their first tongue. The Wovea have been mostly Christianized since the 1970s. Evangelical denominations dominate, particularly the Baptist church. The Wovea participate in the Ngondo , a traditional festival of the Duala to which all of Cameroon's coastal Sawa peoples are invited. The main focus is on communicating with the ancestors and asking them for guidance and protection for
5220-528: The Bamums in Cameroon invented a script , the first to be written down was the royal chronicle and the code of customary law . Most African courts had archivists who learnt by heart the royal genealogy and history of the state, and served as its unwritten constitution . The performance of a tradition is accentuated and rendered alive by various gesture, social conventions and the unique occasion in which it
5336-756: The Kouyate line of griots . Griots often accompany their telling of oral tradition with a musical instrument, as the Epic of Sundiata is accompanied by the balafon , or as the kora accompanies other traditions. In modern times, some griots and descendants of griots have dropped their historian role and focus on music, with many finding success, however many still maintain their traditional roles. Albanian traditions have been handed down orally across generations. They have been preserved through traditional memory systems that have survived intact into modern times in Albania ,
5452-510: The attributes of Allah —all-mighty, all-wise, all-knowing, all-high, etc.—often found as doublets at the end of a verse. Among the other repeated phrases are "Allah created the heavens and the earth" (found 19 times in the Quran). As much as one third of the Quran is made up of "oral formulas", according to Dundes' estimates. Bannister, using a computer database of (the original Arabic) words of
5568-643: The oral word and widespread use of oral tradition. Oral tradition is memories, knowledge, and expression held in common by a group over many generations: it is the long preservation of immediate or contemporaneous testimony . It may be defined as the recall and transmission of specific, preserved textual and cultural knowledge through vocal utterance. Oral tradition is usually popular, and can be exoteric or esoteric . It speaks to people according to their understanding, unveiling itself in accordance with their aptitudes. As an academic discipline , oral tradition refers both to objects and methods of study. It
5684-489: The 16th and 17th centuries, the Wovea came under the dominance of the Isubu. When the Spanish ousted Protestant missionaries from their base at Fernando Po (modern Bioko) in 1858, the Isubu king, William I of Bimbia , sold part of Wovea territory to British missionary Alfred Saker . The area became Victoria (today known as Limbe ). The Wovea living there were forced to move to Mondole Island. Victoria's population developed as
5800-573: The Qur'anic text was generated." Dundes argues oral-formulaic composition is consistent with "the cultural context of Arabic oral tradition", quoting researchers who have found poetry reciters in the Najd (the region next to where the Quran was revealed) using "a common store of themes, motives, stock images, phraseology and prosodical options", and "a discursive and loosely structured" style "with no fixed beginning or end" and "no established sequence in which
5916-490: The Quran and of their "grammatical role, root, number, person, gender and so forth", estimates that depending on the length of the phrase searched, somewhere between 52% (three word phrases) and 23% (five word phrases) are oral formulas. Dundes reckons his estimates confirm "that the Quran was orally transmitted from its very beginnings". Bannister believes his estimates "provide strong corroborative evidence that oral composition should be seriously considered as we reflect upon how
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#17327652129846032-573: The Quran from memory, not reading, the predominant mode of teaching it to others. To this day the Quran is memorized by millions and its recitation can be heard throughout the Muslim world from recordings and mosque loudspeakers (during Ramadan ). Muslims state that some who teach memorization/recitation of the Quran constitute the end of an "un-broken chain" whose original teacher was Muhammad himself. It has been argued that "the Qur'an's rhythmic style and eloquent expression make it easy to memorize," and
6148-518: The Vedangas. Each text was recited in a number of ways, to ensure that the different methods of recitation acted as a cross check on the other. Pierre-Sylvain Filliozat summarizes this as: These extraordinary retention techniques guaranteed an accurate Śruti, fixed across the generations, not just in terms of unaltered word order but also in terms of sound. That these methods have been effective,
6264-480: The ancient Greek and Roman civilizations were an exclusive product of an oral tradition. An Irish seanchaí (plural: seanchaithe ), meaning bearer of "old lore" , was a traditional Irish language storyteller (the Scottish Gaelic equivalent being the seanchaidh, anglicised as shanachie). The job of a seanchaí was to serve the head of a lineage by passing information orally from one generation to
6380-578: The chemist Harold Plenderleith began to work at the British Museum with Alexander Scott in the recently created Research Laboratory, although he was actually employed by the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research in the early years. Plenderleith's appointment may be said to have given birth to the conservation profession in the UK, although there had been craftsmen in many museums and in
6496-539: The commercial art world for generations. This department was created by the museum to address the deteriorating condition of objects in the collection, damages which were a result of their being stored in the London Underground tunnels during the First World War . The creation of this department moved the focus for the development of conservation theory and practice from Germany to Britain, and made
6612-575: The condition of collections to determine when an artifact requires conservation work and the services of a qualified conservator. A teaching programme of interventive conservation was established in the UK at the Institute of Archaeology by Ione Gedye , which is still teaching interventive conservators today. A principal aim of a cultural conservator is to reduce the rate of deterioration of an object. Both non-interventive and interventive methodologies may be employed in pursuit of this goal. Interventive conservation refers to any direct interaction between
6728-558: The conservation treatments to be provided to the object. The conservator's work is guided by ethical standards. These take the form of applied ethics . Ethical standards have been established across the world, and national and international ethical guidelines have been written. One such example is: Conservation OnLine provides resources on ethical issues in conservation, including examples of codes of ethics and guidelines for professional conduct in conservation and allied fields; and charters and treaties pertaining to ethical issues involving
6844-411: The conservator and the material fabric of the object. Interventive actions are carried out for a variety of reasons, including aesthetic choices, stabilization needs for structural integrity, or cultural requirements for intangible continuity. Examples of interventive treatments include the removal of discolored varnish from a painting, the application of wax to a sculpture, and the washing and rebinding of
6960-464: The corrupt and uncorrupted hadith, this other source of revelation is not nearly so free of corruption because of the hadith's great political and theological influence.) At least two non-Muslim scholars ( Alan Dundes and Andrew G. Bannister) have examined the possibility that the Quran was not just "recited orally, but actually composed orally". Bannister postulates that some parts of the Quran—such as
7076-457: The duality either way would be reductionistic. Vansina states: Cultural preservation The conservation and restoration of cultural property focuses on protection and care of cultural property (tangible cultural heritage) , including artworks , architecture , archaeology , and museum collections . Conservation activities include preventive conservation , examination, documentation , research, treatment, and education. This field
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#17327652129847192-462: The energy costs associated with controlling indoor storage and display environments ( temperature , relative humidity , air filtration , and lighting levels) as well as those associated with the transport of cultural heritage items for exhibitions and loans. In general, lowering the temperature reduces the rate at which damaging chemical reactions occur within materials. For example, storing cellulose acetate film at 10 °C instead of 21 °C
7308-415: The environment" is generally well accepted within the community and is already contemplated in guidelines of diverse institutions related to the field. Many cultural works are sensitive to environmental conditions such as temperature , humidity and exposure to visible light and ultraviolet radiation . These works must be protected in controlled environments where such variables are maintained within
7424-444: The episodes must follow".{{ref|group=Note|Scholar Saad Sowayan referring to the genre of "Saudi Arabian historical oral narrative genre called suwalif ". The Catholic Church upholds that its teaching contained in its deposit of faith is transmitted not only through scripture , but as well as through sacred tradition . The Second Vatican Council affirmed in Dei verbum that
7540-470: The field and in archaeological collections, particularly those of the Institute of Archaeology , London. In the United Kingdom, pioneering research into painting materials and conservation, ceramics, and stone conservation was conducted by Arthur Pillans Laurie , academic chemist and Principal of Heriot-Watt University from 1900. Laurie's interests were fostered by William Holman Hunt . In 1924
7656-778: The first by comparing inconsistencies in the transmitted versions of literature from various oral societies such as the Greek, Serbia and other cultures, then noting that the Vedic literature is too consistent and vast to have been composed and transmitted orally across generations, without being written down. In the Middle East, Arabic oral tradition has significantly influenced literary and cultural practices. Arabic oral tradition encompassed various forms of expression, including metrical poetry , unrhymed prose , rhymed prose ( saj' ), and prosimetrum —a combination of prose and poetry often employed in historical narratives. Poetry held
7772-583: The first organized attempt to apply a theoretical framework to the conservation of cultural heritage came with the founding in the United Kingdom of the Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings in 1877. The society was founded by William Morris and Philip Webb , both of whom were deeply influenced by the writings of John Ruskin . During the same period, a French movement with similar aims
7888-630: The folk epics known as siyar (singular: sīra) were considered the most intricate. These prosimetric narratives, combining prose and verse, emerged in the early Middle Ages. While many such epics circulated historically, only one has survived as a sung oral poetic tradition: Sīrat Banī Hilāl . This epic recounts the westward migration and conquests of the Banu Hilal Bedouin tribe from the 10th to 12th centuries, culminating in their rule over parts of North Africa before their eventual defeat. The historical roots of Sīrat Banī Hilāl are evident in
8004-430: The form of an apprenticeship , whereby an apprentice slowly developed the necessary skills to undertake their job. For some specializations within conservation this is still the case. However, it is more common in the field of conservation today that the training required to become a practicing conservator comes from a recognized university course in conservation of cultural heritage. The university can rarely provide all
8120-538: The future. The festivities also include armed combat, beauty pageants , pirogue races, and traditional wrestling . The Wovea are Bantu in language and origin. More narrowly, they fall into the Sawa, or the coastal peoples of Cameroon. Oral tradition Oral tradition , or oral lore , is a form of human communication in which knowledge, art, ideas and culture are received, preserved, and transmitted orally from one generation to another. The transmission
8236-584: The generations. Many forms of recitation or pathas were designed to aid accuracy in recitation and the transmission of the Vedas and other knowledge texts from one generation to the next. All hymns in each Veda were recited in this way; for example, all 1,028 hymns with 10,600 verses of the Rigveda was preserved in this way; as were all other Vedas including the Principal Upanishads , as well as
8352-868: The help of elaborate mnemonic techniques : According to Goody, the Vedic texts likely involved both a written and oral tradition, calling it a "parallel products of a literate society". Mostly recently, research shows that oral performance of (written) texts could be a philosophical activity in early China . It is a common knowledge in India that the primary Hindu books called Vedas are great example of Oral tradition. Pundits who memorized three Vedas were called Trivedis. Pundits who memorized four vedas were called Chaturvedis. By transferring knowledge from generation to generation Hindus protected their ancient Mantras in Vedas, which are basically Prose. The early Buddhist texts are also generally believed to be of oral tradition, with
8468-535: The human intellect, and the memory to retain information and sharpen imagination. Perhaps the most famous repository of oral tradition is the west African griot (named differently in different languages). The griot is a hereditary position and exists in Dyula , Soninke , Fula , Hausa , Songhai , Wolof , Serer , and Mossi societies among many others, although more famously in Mandinka society . They constitute
8584-610: The importance of collections, the role of new technologies, and cultural property issues, but this appears to have been whittled away in the present document. Concluding: When asked by the Commons Culture Media and Sport elect Committee CMS committee what he would like to see as a priority in the DCMS document arising from the 'Understanding the Future' consultation, Mr MacGregor responded 'I would like to see added there
8700-467: The importance of storytelling in preserving Roman history . Valerius Maximus also references oral tradition in Memorable Doings and Sayings (2.1.10). Wiseman argues that celebratory performances served as a vital medium for transmitting Roman history and that such traditions evolved into written forms by the third century CE. He asserts that the history of figures like the house of Tarquin
8816-479: The introduction of text , oral tradition remained the only means of communication in order to establish societies as well as its institutions. Despite widespread comprehension of literacy in the recent century, oral tradition remains the dominant communicative means within the world. All indigenous African societies use oral tradition to learn their origin and history , civic and religious duties, crafts and skills, as well as traditional myths and legends . It
8932-419: The knowledge, methods, and working standards needed to protect and preserve precious materials of all kinds." The rapid growth of conservation professional organizations, publications, journals, newsletters, both internationally and in localities, has spearheaded the development of the conservation profession, both practically and theoretically. Art historians and theorists such as Cesare Brandi have also played
9048-455: The last survivor of the Balkan traditions. "All ancient Greek literature", states Steve Reece, "was to some degree oral in nature, and the earliest literature was completely so". Homer 's epic poetry, states Michael Gagarin, "was largely composed, performed and transmitted orally". As folklores and legends were performed in front of distant audiences, the singers would substitute the names in
9164-554: The latter a prime force in this fledgling field. In 1956 Plenderleith wrote a significant handbook called The Conservation of Antiquities and Works of Art, which supplanted Rathgen's earlier tome and set new standards for the development of art and conservation science . In the United States, the development of conservation of cultural heritage can be traced to the Fogg Art Museum , and Edward Waldo Forbes, its director from 1909 to 1944. He encouraged technical investigation, and
9280-671: The lived experience of earthquakes and floods within tribal memory. According to one story from the Suquamish Tribe , Agate Pass was created when an earthquake expanded the channel as a result of an underwater battle between a serpent and bird. Other stories in the region depict the formation of glacial valleys and moraines and the occurrence of landslides, with stories being used in at least one case to identify and date earthquakes that occurred in 900 CE and 1700. Further examples include Arikara origin stories of emergence from an "underworld" of persistent darkness, which may represent
9396-492: The long and short syllables are repeated by certain rules, so that if an error or inadvertent change is made, an internal examination of the verse reveals the problem. Oral traditions can be passed on through plays and acting, as shown in modern-day Cameroon by the Graffis or Grasslanders who perform and deliver speeches to teach their history through oral tradition. Such strategies facilitate transmission of information without
9512-418: The millennium have taught us anything, it must be that oral tradition never was the other we accused it of being; it never was the primitive, preliminary technology of communication we thought it to be. Rather, if the whole truth is told, oral tradition stands out as the single most dominant communicative technology of our species as both a historical fact and, in many areas still, a contemporary reality. Before
9628-494: The narrative, sometimes answering questions from the audience to ensure understanding, although often someone would learn a tradition without asking their master questions and not really understand the meaning of its content, leading them to speculate in the commentary. Oral traditions only exist when they are told, except for in people's minds, and so the frequency of telling a tradition aids its preservation. These African ethnic groups also utilize oral tradition to develop and train
9744-593: The necessary training in first hand experience that an apprenticeship can, and therefore in addition to graduate level training the profession also tends towards encouraging conservation students to spend time as an intern . Conservation of cultural heritage is an interdisciplinary field as conservators have backgrounds in the fine arts , sciences (including chemistry , biology , and materials science ), and closely related disciplines, such as art history , archaeology , and anthropology . They also have design, fabrication, artistic, and other special skills necessary for
9860-561: The need to conserve and research the collections, so that the collections can really play the role across the whole of the United Kingdom that they should.' So would we. Further to this the ICON website summary report lists the following specific recommendations: In November 2008, the UK-based think tank Demos published an influential pamphlet entitled It's a material world: caring for the public realm , in which they argue for integrating
9976-416: The next about Irish folklore and history, particularly in medieval times. The potential for oral transmission of history in ancient Rome is evidenced primarily by Cicero , who discusses the significance of oral tradition in works such as Brutus , Tusculan Disputations , and On The Orator . While Cicero ’s reliance on Cato’s Origines may limit the breadth of his argument, he nonetheless highlights
10092-468: The oldest oral traditions in existence. A basalt stone axe found underneath volcanic ash in 1947 had already proven that humans inhabited the region before the eruption of Tower Hill. Native American society was always reliant upon oral tradition, if not storytelling , in order to convey knowledge, morals and traditions amongst others, a trait Western settlers deemed as representing an inferior race without neither culture nor history, often cited as
10208-405: The oral passing of what had been revealed through Christ through their preaching as teachers. Jan Vansina , who specialised in the history of Central Africa , pioneered the study of oral tradition in his book Oral tradition as history (1985). Vansina differentiates between oral and literate civilisations, depending on whether emphasis is placed on the sanctity of the written or oral word in
10324-534: The overall meaning. In this way, the rules that govern the people are modified by the whole and not authored by a single entity. Ancient texts of Hinduism , Buddhism and Jainism were preserved and transmitted by an oral tradition. For example, the śrutis of Hinduism called the Vedas , the oldest of which trace back to the second millennium BCE. Michael Witzel explains this oral tradition as follows: The Vedic texts were orally composed and transmitted, without
10440-483: The practical application of that knowledge. Within the various schools that teach conservation of cultural heritage, the approach differs according to the educational and vocational system within the country, and the focus of the school itself. This is acknowledged by the American Institute for Conservation who advise "Specific admission requirements differ and potential candidates are encouraged to contact
10556-419: The present-day distribution of groups claiming descent from the tribe across North Africa and parts of the Middle East. The epic's development into a cohesive narrative was first documented by the historian Ibn Khaldūn in the 14th century. In his writings, Ibn Khaldūn describes collecting stories and poems from nomadic Arabs, using these oral sources to discuss the merits of colloquial versus classical poetry and
10672-404: The preservation of cultural property. As well as standards of practice conservators deal with wider ethical concerns, such as the debates as to whether all art is worth preserving. Keeping up with the international contemporary scenario, recent concerns with sustainability in conservation have emerged. The common understanding that "the care of an artifact should not come at the undue expense of
10788-509: The public directly into efforts to conserve material culture, particularly that which is in the public, their argument, as stated on page 16, demonstrates their belief that society can benefit from conservation as a paradigm as well as a profession: conservators provide a paradigm not just for fixing things when they are broken, but for a wider social ethos of care, where we individually and collectively take responsibility and action. Training in conservation of cultural heritage for many years took
10904-662: The remembrance of life in the Arctic Circle during the last ice age, and stories involving a "deep crevice", which may refer to the Grand Canyon. Despite such examples of agreement between geological and archeological records on one hand and Native oral records on the other, some scholars have cautioned against the historical validity of oral traditions because of their susceptibility to detail alteration over time and lack of precise dates. The Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act considers oral traditions as
11020-586: The same metrical conditions, to express a particular essential idea"). In the case of the work of Homer, formulas included eos rhododaktylos ("rosy fingered dawn") and oinops pontos ("winedark sea") which fit in a modular fashion into the poetic form (in this case six-colon Greek hexameter). Since the development of this theory, of oral-formulaic composition has been "found in many different time periods and many different cultures", and according to another source (John Miles Foley) "touch[ed] on" over 100 "ancient, medieval and modern traditions." The most recent of
11136-508: The seven re-tellings of the story of the Iblis and Adam , and the repeated phrases "which of the favours of your Lord will you deny?" in sura 55—make more sense addressed to listeners than readers. Banister, Dundes and other scholars (Shabbir Akhtar, Angelika Neuwirth, Islam Dayeh) have also noted the large amount of "formulaic" phraseology in the Quran consistent with " oral-formulaic composition " mentioned above. The most common formulas are
11252-431: The state in which it was prior to the conservator's intervention. Although this concept remains a guiding principle of the profession, it has been widely critiqued within the conservation profession and is now considered by many to be "a fuzzy concept." Another important principle of conservation is that all alterations should be well documented and should be clearly distinguishable from the original object. An example of
11368-408: The stories with local characters or rulers to give the stories a local flavor and thus connect with the audience, but making the historicity embedded in the oral tradition unreliable. The lack of surviving texts about the Greek and Roman religious traditions have led scholars to presume that these were ritualistic and transmitted as oral traditions, but some scholars disagree that the complex rituals in
11484-419: The storyteller's objective at the time. One's rendition of a story was often considered a response to another's rendition, with plot alterations suggesting alternative ways of applying traditional ideas to present conditions. Listeners might have heard the story told many times, or even may have told the same story themselves. This does not take away from a story's meaning, as curiosity about what happens next
11600-481: The teachings of Jesus Christ were initially passed on to early Christians by "the Apostles who, by their oral preaching, by example, and by observance handed on what they had received from the lips of Christ, from living with Him, and from what He did". The Catholic Church asserts that this mode of transmission of the faith persists through current-day bishops , who by right of apostolic succession , have continued
11716-499: The title "A Failure of Vision". It had the following to say: No sector can look with confidence to the future if its key asset is worked harder and harder across an ever broadening range of objectives while the inputs required to sustain it are neglected. It is of major concern to us that the only part of this section which makes any acknowledgement of the need for greater resourcing is the part which refers to acquisitions. The original consultation paper made quite extensive reference to
11832-655: The use of script, in an unbroken line of transmission from teacher to student that was formalized early on. This ensured an impeccable textual transmission superior to the classical texts of other cultures; it is, in fact, something like a tape-recording ... Not just the actual words, but even the long-lost musical (tonal) accent (as in old Greek or in Japanese) has been preserved up to the present. Ancient Indians developed techniques for listening, memorization and recitation of their knowledge, in schools called Gurukul , while maintaining exceptional accuracy of their knowledge across
11948-674: The value of oral histories in written historical works. The Torah and other ancient Jewish literature, the Judeo-Christian Bible and texts of early centuries of Christianity are rooted in an oral tradition, and the term "People of the Book" is a medieval construct. This is evidenced, for example, by the multiple scriptural statements by Paul admitting "previously remembered tradition which he received" orally. Australian Aboriginal culture has thrived on oral traditions and oral histories passed down through thousands of years. In
12064-486: The work of art is appreciated in its material form and in its historical and aesthetic duality, with a view to transmitting it to the future". Some consider the tradition of conservation of cultural heritage in Europe to have begun in 1565 with the restoration of the Sistine Chapel frescoes , but more ancient examples include the work of Cassiodorus . The care of cultural heritage has a long history, one that
12180-440: The world". Modern archaeology has been unveiling evidence of the human efforts to preserve and transmit arts and knowledge that depended completely or partially on an oral tradition, across various cultures: The Judeo-Christian Bible reveals its oral traditional roots; medieval European manuscripts are penned by performing scribes; geometric vases from archaic Greece mirror Homer's oral style. (...) Indeed, if these final decades of
12296-457: The world's major religions, Islam claims two major sources of divine revelation—the Quran and hadith —compiled in written form relatively shortly after being revealed: The oral milieu in which the sources were revealed, and their oral form in general are important. The Arab poetry that preceded the Quran and the hadith were orally transmitted. Few Arabs were literate at the time and paper
12412-802: Was Chairman of the Advisory Committee for the first technical journal, Technical Studies in the Field of the Fine Arts, published by the Fogg from 1932 to 1942. Importantly he also brought onto the museum staff chemists. Rutherford John Gettens was the first of such in the US to be permanently employed by an art museum. He worked with George L. Stout , the founder and first editor of Technical Studies. Gettens and Stout co-authored Painting Materials: A Short Encyclopaedia in 1942, reprinted in 1966. This compendium
12528-539: Was being developed under the direction of Eugène Viollet-le-Duc , an architect and theorist, famous for his restorations of medieval buildings. Conservation of cultural heritage as a distinct field of study initially developed in Germany, where in 1888 Friedrich Rathgen became the first chemist to be employed by a Museum , the Koniglichen Museen, Berlin ( Royal Museums of Berlin ). He not only developed
12644-620: Was here that he established a set of guidelines or environmental controls for the best conditions in which objects could be stored and displayed within the museum environment. Although his exact guidelines are no longer rigidly followed, they did inspire this field of conservation. Conservators routinely use chemical and scientific analysis for the examination and treatment of cultural works. The modern conservation laboratory uses equipment such as microscopes , spectrometers , and various x-ray regime instruments to better understand objects and their components. The data thus collected helps in deciding
12760-480: Was known for his justification of the oral tradition and criticism of the written word. Stories are used to preserve and transmit both tribal history and environmental history, which are often closely linked. Native oral traditions in the Pacific Northwest, for example, describe natural disasters like earthquakes and tsunamis. Various cultures from Vancouver Island and Washington have stories describing
12876-434: Was less of a priority than hearing fresh perspectives on well-known themes and plots. Elder storytellers generally were not concerned with discrepancies between their version of historical events and neighboring tribes' version of similar events, such as in origin stories. Tribal stories are considered valid within the tribe's own frame of reference and tribal experience. The 19th century Oglala Lakota tribal member Four Guns
12992-451: Was likely passed down through oral storytelling for centuries before being recorded in literature. Although Flower critiques the lack of ancient evidence supporting Wiseman's broader claims, Wiseman maintains that dramatic narratives fundamentally shaped historiography. In Asia, the transmission of folklore, mythologies as well as scriptures in ancient India, in different Indian religions, was by oral tradition, preserved with precision with
13108-475: Was made so to facilitate the "preservation and remembrance" of the work. Islamic doctrine holds that from the time it was revealed to the present day, the Quran has not been altered, its continuity from divine revelation to its current written form insured by the large numbers of Muhammad's supporters who had reverently memorized the work, a careful compiling process and divine intervention. (Muslim scholars agree that although scholars have worked hard to separate
13224-487: Was not available in the Middle East. The written Quran is said to have been created in part through memorization by Muhammad's companions , and the decision to create a standard written work is said to have come after the death in battle ( Yamama ) of a large number of Muslims who had memorized the work. For centuries, copies of the Qurans were transcribed by hand, not printed, and their scarcity and expense made reciting
13340-493: Was primarily aimed at fixing and mending objects for their continued use and aesthetic enjoyment. Until the early 20th century, artists were normally the ones called upon to repair damaged artworks. During the 19th century, however, the fields of science and art became increasingly intertwined as scientists such as Michael Faraday began to study the damaging effects of the environment to works of art. Louis Pasteur carried out scientific analysis on paint as well. However, perhaps
13456-533: Was the report A Public Trust at Risk: The Heritage Health Index Report on the State of America's Collections , which was published in December 2005 and concluded that immediate action is needed to prevent the loss of 190 million artifacts that are in need of conservation treatment. The report made four recommendations: In October 2006, the Department for Culture, Media and Sport , a governmental department, authored
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