“Solely who knows where Luanda is will know how to value”: oral tradition as ancestral heritage

Abstract

The objective of this paper was to reflect on the importance of the Oral Tradition as well as the possibilities of this being present in the Brazilian educational practices, provoked by the experiences of the stage realized in Escola Primária 16 de Junho, in Luanda, Angola, through the Program of Student Exchange. Based on bibliographical researches of authors who have dedicated their studies to the theme of the African oral tradition and its unfolding, we seek to perceive the African tradition not only as rich in historical aspects but as an instrument of cultural knowledge that permeates a society. The theoretical contributions brought forward aim to broaden our view of the legacy of predominantly oral cultures that are not emptied of teachings. Such considerations help us to realize that the various black cultural practices developed in our country embrace African practices and knowledge. Considered as a continent of the spoken word, Africa recognizes the word as an instrument for the preservation of ancestral knowledge. The word is sacred and composed of vital force. In education, the word, orality, is present, as in the oral tradition. Orality, an element of tradition, mediates social, political, economic and cultural relations. Thus, we conclude by thinking of an education that through the teachings of the African oral tradition contributes to a knowledge in which the being is involved in the totality.

The objective of this paper was to reflect on the importance of the Oral Tradition as well as the possibilities of this being present in the Brazilian educational practices, provoked by the experiences of the stage realized in Escola Primária 16 de Junho, in Luanda, Angola, through the Program of Student Exchange. Based on bibliographical researches of authors who have dedicated their studies to the theme of the African oral tradition and its unfolding, we seek to perceive the African tradition not only as rich in historical aspects but as an instrument of cultural knowledge that permeates a society. The theoretical contributions brought forward aim to broaden our view of the legacy of predominantly oral cultures that are not emptied of teachings. Such considerations help us to realize that the various black cultural practices developed in our country embrace African practices and knowledge. Considered as a continent of the spoken word, Africa recognizes the word as an instrument for the preservation of ancestral knowledge. The word is sacred and composed of vital force. In education, the word, orality, is present, as in the oral tradition. Orality, an element of tradition, mediates social, political, economic and cultural relations. Thus, we conclude by thinking of an education that through the teachings of the African oral tradition contributes to a knowledge in which the being is involved in the totality.