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
