Meaning

The oral equivalent of literature: a collection of traditional folk songs, stories, etc., that is communicated orally rather than in writing..

Definitions by Sense

1. The oral equivalent of literature: a collection of traditional folk songs, stories, etc., that is communicated orally rather than in writing.
2. (Scotland, chiefly Christianity, archaic) Variant of oratour (“a small room or chapel used for prayer and worship, or for private study; an oratory”).

Example Sentences

It is because of this that Mr Pio Zirimu, a Ugandan linguist and literary critic, has coined the word ‘orature’.

The decolonization of the African mind and imaginagion is a job that must be done. It is a job that requires that our perceptions, our imaginations, and our literary devices be fertilized by the past literatures and oratures of the Pan-African world, and by the literatures and oratures of other lands besides Europe.

As it were, Literature is often seen as a branch of Language Arts. Orature is a branch of Literature and hence inevitably falls within Language especially in as far as Language is basically oral. […] Inevitably, a good stock of the words within Orature are taken from written Literature. The text hopes to establish the interrelationship of these branches of Literature and through definition to show the specific application of these terms in Orature.

In the chapter on Aidoo, I note that certain genres of the orature, particularly the dilemma tales, have unresolved endings which call for community response; this is evident in the ending of Song as well.

There is much at work in this discussion of canon and orature. As a starting point, it is worth noting that the academic discipline of English developed in the colonial era, and it should be equally patent that Eurocentric attempts to define a canon since the 19th century have been "less a statement of the superiority of the Western tradition than a vital, active instrument of Western hegemony." Limiting consideration or admission to the canon to orature is a way of continuing colonialism. It once again keeps American Indians from entering the 20th century and denies to Native literary artists who choose other media any legitimate or "authentic" Native identity.

Blue Marrow by the Cree poet Louise Bernice Halfe has an intriguing textual history. […] Of the changes made to the revised edition, the completely rewritten narrative frame is particularly interesting, especially given the relevance of opening and closing frames in Aboriginal oratures and in oral traditions around the world more generally[…].

This book takes readers into the hitherto unexplored undercurrents of one of the so-called minor genres of African orature—riddles.

This bishop was ane wyse and godlie man, and answered the king in this maner, as after follows, saying, “Sir, I beseech your Grace, that ye take a little meat to refresh you, and I will passe to my orature and pray to God for you, and the commonwealth of this realme and cuntrie.[”]

Word Forms

• oratures

Synonyms for orature

Related Words

When Should You Use Orature?

Use orature when its meaning, tone and grammar fit the full sentence. A synonym is not always a direct replacement.

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