A woman visits the 10th anniversary exhibition of the China Memory Project, titled “Our Stories, China’s Memory,” launched at the National Library on Sept. 14. To date, over 400 hours of oral historical materials, historical audio-visual materials, and a large number of historical photos, manuscripts, and other documentary resources have been collected. Photo: XINHUA
Since the Grimm Brothers began systematically recording oral storytelling traditions in Germany, this area of study has gradually evolved into an academic discipline. However, progress in studying its narrators has been slow. A major obstacle slowing its growth is that folkloric narrators have long been viewed by both Chinese and Western scholars as an ambiguous “collective,” leaving little theoretical space for deeper investigation. Recent breakthroughs have led Western academics to revise their perspectives, and now new case studies of prominent narrators are emerging, alongside theoretical summaries. However, many issues remain debatable. This study examines oral literature narrators, referencing written literature authors when necessary, to reveal the unique characteristics of oral literature narrators from different perspectives such as creative medium, subject attributes, operational strategies, and physical and mental engagement.
From spoken word to text: literary creation mediums
In this article, “narrator” refers to all producers and transmitters of oral literature, including both professional and non-professional practitioners, covering various genres ranging from poetry to prose narratives. In this context, oral literature refers to folk literature, while written literature denotes literati’s literature, distinguishing them based on their modes of production. Narrators use “speech,” while authors use “text.” This certainly reflects differences in literary media, but the distinction is not a clear dividing line. For example, many ancient oral histories and stories have been recorded in text and passed down through time. Since the invention and early use of writing, oral literature narrators have frequently been influenced by written culture, leading to the phenomenon of “interconnected speech and text.”
Generally speaking, a shared set of rules governs the distinct operational methods of oral and written expression. Literary production activities usually involve either “speech” or “text.” This distinction is not about preferring one medium over another; rather, it reflects how different media are suited to specific contexts and serve distinct socio-cultural functions.
Collective and individual production
The categorization of writers as a group is complicated by their significant internal diversity, but we can simplify by defining their basic attribute: a writer is someone who engages in literary creation through writing, using text as their medium. Their writing activities are personal and often conducted in private spaces. Writers typically possess a broad knowledge base acquired through extensive reading, while also drawing inspiration from other authors and honing their literary techniques. Their own works should be original, distinct from those of others. Therefore, their writing is called “creation,” and the creative works are the exclusive property of the writer themself. In simple terms, each writer copyrights their own work—which gives them the right to be identified as the author in addition to other intellectual and material rights.
In contrast, folk literature narrators exhibit even greater internal diversity. They engage in the oral creation and transmission of literature within performance contexts and are often understood as a collective. Their narrative content tends to be accumulated over generations rather than originating from one creative individual. “Collectivity” is widely recognized as a fundamental characteristic of folk or oral literature. This collectivity suggests that creative agents are part of a group, the transmission process involves collective participation, and the narrative content belongs to the collective—mutually acknowledged and preserved by the group. Unlike a writer’s exclusive ownership of their work, stories are shared by the collective, whether a group, community, nation, or larger entity.
The literary production of folk narrators is referred to as “composition,” following a traditional approach. Outstanding narrators often possess extensive repertoires. A few exceptional narrators may become professionals, typically due to their long-term involvement in narration, resulting in larger repertoires, greater artistic talent, and enhanced performance skills.
Decentralized patterns
Writers personally connect with readers—both their contemporaries and readers from different eras—through their works. In contrast, narrators face an audience which then participates directly in the storytelling. In the case of popular narratives, audience members are likely to have encountered the story multiple times through various narrators. Thus, with writers, one individual connects with many, while for narrators, many narrators connect with many audience members.
The organization and dissemination of folk knowledge, including artistic products, and its underlying logic bear remarkable similarities to the “blockchain” framework that has emerged in recent years. Blockchain, built on internet technology, consists of interconnected blocks that store information in a sequential manner, allowing for distributed storage, which makes it difficult to alter and is known for its security. Its characteristic—decentralization, openness, independence, security, and anonymity—echo a wisdom that developed long before written records were used to collect information. This is not surprising, as both ancient oral traditions and blockchain, reliant on internet technology, are crystallizations of human practical experience in information technology, guided by human thought processes.
Outstanding individuals in the collective
As understanding of oral literature deepens, scholars have increasingly recognized that within the narrator community, some outstanding storytellers exhibit remarkable artistic talent. They give a poetic voice to the people and play a unique role in the inheritance and development of verbal art, as such, these exceptional individuals become nodes of research focus.
While much ink is spilled summarizing the oral literature “collective,” this study is incomplete without a philosophical analysis of the relationship between individuals, the collective, and society. The collective is not merely an aggregation of individual storytellers nor is it limited to the boundaries of individual activities. Technological advancement and artistic creation often arise from a bold innovation made by one or a few individuals, which then gradually transforms into shared wisdom, even if the original contributors are untraceable.
While oral literature is certainly collective, as demonstrated in the “distributed storage” of stories among social members and repeated performances throughout the community, the collective’s overwhelming presence has long overshadowed the brilliance of any outstanding individual.
‘Embodied’ narrators and ‘disembodied’ authors
Previous studies of oral literature relied on the principles of written culture, which filtered out many characteristics unique to oral traditions. The written paradigm leaves its mark on several scholarly processes. First, oral narratives begin as “sound,” but are recorded as text when studied, a process that strips out much of the information present during a performance. Second, recorded songs and stories are often analyzed alongside literary works, which are not analogous. Third, written literature’s production process is “disembodied,” whereas oral literature is “embodied.” There is limited research discussing the embodiment of oral literature.
In its simplest form, a writer’s activity is disembodied as they weave thoughts into visual symbols (text) that are fixed on a physical medium. Although this process might involve multiple revisions, once finalized the work exists independently, subject to reader interpretation. The medium used by writers is text, thus physical actions do not alter the content or quality of the writing, particularly after text has been printed. Once a manuscript or book is presented to readers, it gains an independent life as a closed symbolic system.
Storytelling is a vital social interaction where the audience values not just the story but also the storytelling process, enjoying the shared experience. It’s crucial not to view the words used in narration as “spiritual” while considering bodily actions as merely “physiological.” In the context of storytelling, the body serves as a nexus of biological and social aspects, facilitating a shared experience among narrators, audiences, and between audience members themselves.. In places where storytelling thrives, the power of sharing is even more pronounced.
“Embodiment” is evident not only in storytelling but also when learning artistic skills. The art of narration involves coordinated action between mind and body, using the narrator’s physical body to exchange information with others present—both verbally and non-verbally.
The body’s involvement in storytelling means that a story cannot exist without the narrator; it requires ongoing participation from both the narrator and audience. Oral stories are not shared as physical objects but connect like electric currents—live wires constantly exchanging information. Audience reactions, both verbal and physical, are observed by the narrator in real time, influencing the pacing, plot progression, and details of the narrative. Thus, “embodiment” refers not only to the narrator’s physical role in storytelling but also to the complex, interactive process of creating, transmitting, and receiving the story among multiple participants.
Chao Gejin is a Member of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.
Edited by YANG XUE