Hispanic Oral Tradition: Form and Content

Abstract

The nineteenth-century humanist Johann Gottfried von Herder distinguished "art poetry" from "natural poetry," and he discovered in the latter "the heart and soul of a people" (Bluestein). Scholars aligned with the nationbuilding process all around the v\/orld have frequently turned to the traditions that issue directly from the life of human communities in the effort to capture their true character, to establish their authentic identities. Oral tradition emerges from the fabric of everyday existence; it responds to the immediate and ultimate problems posed by life in human societies. Its insights and artistry derive from individual genius tempered by collective assent. More than any other expressive product, oral literature provides access to the wisdom and resolve of a people acting within and sometimes against the confines of their historical destiny.