Philippine E-Journals

How Can an Epic Be Reliable for the Historian?

Nicole Revel

 

Abstract:

As a matter of fact, communication between humans can be written, but prior to all, it is oral and relies upon human voice, speech skills and memory. It is also kinesics - body postures, gestures and motions - musical and rhythmic. Memory of events can be kept by way of the Script or by way of Oral Memory. Oral Tradition is a wealth in the Philippines. After taping oral performances in their genuine contexts, we have established the first written texts, transcribed according to the phonology of each vernacular language and translated into English. Since the 1960s, several linguistic and ethnographic descriptions have been published and can be of use to complement our knowledge. However, the most important is a long-lasting dialogue and collaboration in situ with the singers of tales and other knowledgeable local persons. As the historian looks for documents with a selective intellectual activity, he digs into them in order to turn them useful for the analysis and understanding of the various issues he is focusing on. Nowadays, what is available to him is more diverse and can help him to access a new understanding of a problem, of a period of time, or an area of civilization. We shall illustrate this paper with some comments on tultul (epic) among the Pala’wan, kissah (true stories), katakata (fictive stories) among the Sama and the Sama Dilaut, uwaging (epic) among the Tala-andig, and provide new insights to the historian. This would have been enriched by the insights of our missing colleagues at the conference.