that such memory aids were used in many cultures. But it was chiefly such language
devices as rhythmic speech, formulaic expressions, repetition, alliteration, onomatopoeia
and the like that were used to keep orature alive in memory.
There is much disagreement among scholars as to what differences have evolved in
cultures that have used writing to keep factual information, story and enhanced
information available to them, and those cultures that have relied chiefly on the limits of
human memory, assisted sometimes by physical objects as aids. This brief essay can
review only a few theories.
In his book Visible Speech, John de Francis postulates that there is an essential
oneness in all attempts at human writing systems, applicable even to some of the
mnemonic devices. Writing begins, he believes, as an extension of the ‘picturing’
humans do in the mind when they think or speak. But he insists that all true writing
systems have a phonetic component, because that is the way to represent the sounds of
human speech. Even Chinese, which so many believe to be chiefly ‘ideographic’, he
convincingly shows to be highly phonetic.
Walter J.Ong (1982) finds that there are vast differences in the expressions of cultures
that rely on orality and those that rely on literacy. The term ‘oral literature’ in his view is
preposterous—a contradiction in terms. Because he believes the human voice is the
most effective way for one person to reveal interior thoughts and feelings to another, he
finds orality in many cultures more important and influential than literacy. Many other
scholars agree with this view and believe that oral performances result in what should
be called ‘orature’ and not ‘literature’, even when-the texts of such performances are
written down in some way. The term ‘orature for children’ will be used here to designate
story and enhanced information passed on to children by persons who may be aware of
writing and/or print, but do not use them in any significant way.
Very few societies today remain totally untouched by the printed word. A common
misconception about society in developing countries is that the majority of their peoples
have not had a history of significant literacy and literature. But as Jack Goody (1968)
and others have pointed out, literacy has had an impact on many of these peoples for
decades, and even, in some cases, centuries. Many of them have had texts from their
orature written down for a long time, and many also have a written, composed
literature, or translations of texts from other literatures of the world.
Translations often are not adequate for the task of conveying full cultural significance,
particularly not in children’s books, where the text is often very simple and concise. For
example, Melching has pointed out that in Senegal, children had access to many books
of French origin, in which polite phrases such as ‘Please’ and ‘Thank you’ were given
great importance, as they often are in Western cultures. But they are:
of no particular significance in Wolof. They certainly are not indications of whether
or not a child is considered polite. However, there are words and expressions in
Wolof that children must learn to apply...in order to become respected members of
the community. These words and expressions are found in the traditional oral
stories, proverbs, and anecdotes that have been transmitted orally.
Melching 1979:109–111CULTURE AND DEVELOPING COUNTRIES 657