Task 3- Intercultural Competence

Oral Cultural Traditions of England

Language and Culture

Ada Nathalie Sánchez

Tutor: Astrid Lemos

Universidad Nacional Abierta y a Distancia UNAD

Bachelor in TEFL

July 2019.
Contents

Introduction .......................................................................................................................... 3
1. Preliminary Knowledge ................................................................................................. 4
2. Oral Cultural Traditions of England .............................................................................. 6
3. Personal Reflection ...................................................................................................... 10
Conclusions ........................................................................................................................ 11
References: ......................................................................................................................... 12
Introduction

As we have studied along the course, the relationship between language and culture is powerful. Language

is a product of culture but is also the way culture is passed down to the next generations. Language and

cultures evolve together across history. These three elements (Language, Culture, and History) are

recorded in a number of different cultural products, no matter if they are oral or written. In this document,

we will define oral tradition and will present a short history of how this territory in Europe become

England and English their Language. After this, we will present some of their old Legends, firstly

transmitted in the oral form that eventually developed into literary works. These legends show the

influence of their roots cultures and the way they saw the world. Also, an excerpt from an oral anecdote

of the XX century is presented as a sample of a more contemporary oral tradition in England.

 1. Preliminary Knowledge

Oral Tradition.

Oral Tradition refers to a process by which any information about a culture such as literature, history,

medicine is passed down by being spoken instead of written (Boyles, n.d). So, the oral traditions of ancient

cultures basically were the mean for the transmission of cultural products, before these cultures developed

the written language. In many of these cultures, the figure of the storyteller was central in the community,

and he was seen as a cultural secret keeper, a spiritual guide, and a leader (Gentry, n.d). Oral storytelling

required that the storyteller was able to memorize long plots, and for doing so, some mnemonic techniques

were needed. Among these techniques is Alliteration, repeating the same initial consonant sound, creating

a sort of rhythm in words. This rhetorical device is present in literary works as Beowulf, and for this

reason, many scholars argue that oral traditions are responsible for the birth of poetry (Gentry, n.d). Also,

to keep the audience entertained, he usually used other rhetorical devices, like metaphor 1 and

protacalepsis2 . In this way, songs, poetry, chants, riddles, fables, myths, legends, and dance are all forms

of oral cultural traditions.

1
A metaphor is a figure of speech that describes an object or action in a way that isn’t literally true, but helps explain an
idea or make a comparison https://www.grammarly.com/blog/metaphor/
2
It anticipates what the audience is thinking and counters it
England, a land influenced by many Cultures & Languages

The territory currently occupied by England suffered many invasions over the centuries. The Celts invaded

the area in 400 BCE and kept it occupied until 200 BCE. After this, around 50 BCE Romans began

invasions and occupied the region for about 400 years. In these years the Latin had a strong influence on

the language spoken in the area. When the Romans left, a Germanic Invasion began around 449 CE, and

the primary influence on English came from Germanic tribes like the Angles, Saxons, and Jules.

For this reason, English, despite having a strong influence of Latin, it is considered part of the Germanic

Language Family, also being comprised of German, Dutch, Austrian and Swedish. During the period of

occupation of the Germanic tribes a lot of pagan customs were acquired by the English to the point that in

597 CE, Pope Gregory sent missionaries to the land to try to bring back Christianity. In 787 CE, a new

wave of invasions came from another Germanic Tribe, the Danish Vikings. They were eventually defeated

by an English king who dies a few afterward, and this was the perfect opportunity for the Norman Invasion

to happen around 1066. This invasion ended up with 300 hundred years of influence of French in the

English Language, but people from the lower classes were still allowed to speak English. When the

scourge of the black death hit England, many of the survivors were English speakers. Thanks for those

survivors the language was recognized again as the official one. Uribe (2017)
England, the influence of the Church in the Educational System.

The church has a significant impact in the English Educational System, as it happened across Europe in

the Medieval Age. When the missionaries came from Rome, to try to save England from the pagans’

customs, they brought Education to all they wanted to convert to Christianism. << The relation of religion

and Education in medieval England was good. Churches were not only the places to pray to God but also

to study. …Students were taught Latin, logic, grammar, rhetoric, music, astrology et>> (Ostrowska,

2017). Rhetoric, the art of public speaking, was an essential skill at the time. This favored the expansion

of the oral traditions, due to the paramount reputation that storytellers and public performers had in the

population.

2. Oral Cultural Traditions of England

Herein are some Legends of Britain and how the link to England’s centuries of invasion and cultural

shocks.

King Arthur (Celtic influence)

The legend of King Arthur developed from stories of the Celtic Mythology. Arthur was a fictional king

of Britain during the 5th and 6th centuries. As discussed in the previous section, the Celts occupied

England for 200 years, and they brought into the Island all of these cultural traditions and their mythology.

The northern of England, beyond Hadrian’s wall, was the most influenced by the Celtic culture.
King Arthur was the illegitimate son of a King. He was raised on the quiet, and he became King when he

managed to pull from a stone a sword (Excalibur), and he was guided in many moments of his life by a

Magician named Merlin. Once he became a King, he created a court of Knights, known as the Knight of

the Round Table. His kingdom was called Camelot, and his knights were in the quest of the Holy Grail.

He married Guinevere, but she had an affair with one of the knights, Lancelot. He lost his kingdom which

was undertaken by another Knight. They had a battle to the death, and this was the end of his Kingdom,

Camelot.

Beowulf (Germanic Influence)

Beowulf is an Old English epic poem consisting of 3,182 alliterative lines. It is one of the most important

works of Old English literature. The date of composition is being argued by scholars; the only certain

dating pertains to the manuscript, which was produced between 975 and 1025.

This poem, which is actually written poetry, it is based on a Germanic Legend, where the monster Grendel

and the Dragon are the main characters. This poem shows the roots of the Anglo-Saxon conquerors. Baber

(2004).

King Lear (Pre-Roman Britain, Celtic components)

This is the story of a King who liked to be appraised. When in retirement age he needed to determine how

to distribute his possession among his three daughters. Since they were aware of his weakness for flattery,

two of his daughters filled him with compliments, while the other “Cordelia” did not. She explained
herself, saying that she would never be able to put his love for her father into words. The King thought

that Cordelia did not love him and disinherited her. She received a marriage proposal from the King of

France and left Britain. King Lear is aftermath betrayed by his other two daughters who took away his

political power. Cordelia returned with a French army to restore his father to the power but failed. The

king Lear and Cordelia died, and other noblemen recover the Kingdom. Evans (2019)

Robin Hood (Saxon story in the time when the Normans ruled on England)

Robin Hood is a fictional hero from England; he stole from the rich and gave to the poor with the help of

the Merryman. Robin Hood was an excellent archer, and most of the story is about the adventures when

he managed to escape from the Nottingham sheriff.

This story reflects a period in England’s history where there were tensions between the Saxon and The

Normans, as (Uribe, 2017) puts it “…A Saxon nobleman allowed a poor starving man to hide and hunt in

his land because he was also a Saxon. He is protected by this nobleman, in the woods of Sherwood while

he resisted the Normand nobility represented by the sheriff of Nottingham. This man became Robin Hood.

Robin hood pledge loyalty to Richard the Lionheart, so it is in this time when the legends emerge. And it

is in the woods, where Robin gets to know Little John and the Priest. In these woods, through the spirit of

Herne3 (the spirits of woods) he obtained protection while he steals from the Rich, and give to the poor,

that represents the Saxon people who fell in disgrace under the dominion of the Normans...”

3 Herne the Hunter which relate to the Germanic deity Woden.

The five-pound note (XX century oral anecdote)

In the image below there is a except from the book “Folktales from around the world”. In the summary

there is an annotation of where and from whom this anecdote was heard.

FIGURE 1 FOLKTALE "THE FIVE-POUND NOTE". PIECE OF CONTEMPORARY ORAL TRADITION FROM ENGLAND. EXTRACTED FROM
THE BOOK "FOLKTALES FROM AROUND THE WORLD" BY DORSON( 1975)
 3. Personal Reflection

The present course “Language and Culture”, as well as the present investigation of England Oral traditions

gave me the elements to understand how the English Language evolved in History, and how Languages,

in general, change along with Cultures. I found it very interesting that the English ended up being a

Germanic Language despite the vital influence of the Romans (Latin) and the Normans (French). All of

this just made me reflect on how complex in the language spreading process. It is tough to predict what is

going to happen because Language and culture are subject to the turns of History.

At the beginning of this investigation, I thought that oral cultural tradition as I knew it, was dead. I thought

the oral tradition was everything that happened before the writing language existed and nothing else. But

from I have found in the "Folktales from around the world" book, I saw that there are a lot of contemporary

Oral tradition products. I recognize the importance of oral tradition still today. Daily, we can see the word

orally spreading on the internet through social networks. Things like podcasts and YouTube make

languages to be transmitted unexpectedly across cultures. Not to mention the strong effect that they have

in our Educational Context, and the influence they have on our learners by the mean of Informal

Education.

All of this knowledge is very important in my labor as an English Teacher. First, it is useful to know

how the English language first appeared in England. Also, by checking my classmates' works, I saw how

it spread around the globe to the United States and Canada. Also, it was useful to corroborate the
importance of the "dominating" culture in the evolution of a language. Finally, it helped to develop my

intercultural knowledge, while reading and learning about other country's oral traditions sometimes

similar and sometimes different from my owns.

Conclusions

• English is a Germanic language, with a strong influence of Latin and French.

• England was invaded by the Celts, the Romans, the Vikings, and the Normans. All of these

communities influenced England with their mythology and pagan customs. Also, Christianity affected

England, especially in the introduction of the Education System

• Most of the famous literary works on the English Literature were once just Folktales told by poet

and jesters; this includes some of the later works of Shakespeare.

• Culture, Language and History are three variables strongly correlated to each other

• Oral tradition prevailed into the modern era, and it is also essential today in the development of

Languages.
References:

o Baber, Richard (2004). Myths and legends of the British Isles. Retrieved from

https://books.google.com.co/books?id=eXj7WdwtG3wC&printsec=frontcover&dq=British+myth

+and+legends&hl=es-

419&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwi85d6Q0bDjAhUCwFkKHT5MAR0Q6AEIKTAA#v=onepage&q=British%2

0myth%20and%20legends&f=false

o Boyles, David (n.d) Characteristics of Oral Tradition in World Literature. Retrieved July

14, 2019, from https://study.com/academy/lesson/characteristics-of-oral-tradition-in-world-

literature.html#/lesson

o Dorson, RM (1975). Folktales told around the World. Unites States of America. The

University of Chicago Press

o Evans, Zteve (2019). British legend: King Lear and Cordelia – A tale of love and

Foolishness. Retrieved from https://folklorethursday.com/legends/british-legends-king-lear-

and-cordelia-a-tale-of-love-and-foolishness

o Gentry, Angela (n.d). Oral Tradition of Storytelling: Definition, History & Examples.

Retrieved July 14, 2019, from https://study.com/academy/lesson/oral-tradition-of-storytelling-

definition-history-examples.html#/lesson
o Ostrowska, Marta (Septembre 12, 2017). Education in Medieval England. Retrieved July

17, 2019 from https://lingwistyka.edu.pl/blog/education-in-medieval-england/

o Uribe, Diana (August 24, 2017). Inglaterra 2. Stonehenge, Normandos, Germanos

y Daneses. Retrieved July 14, 2019, from http://www.lacasadelahistoria.com/inglaterra-2-

stonehenge-normandos-germanos-daneses/