Oral Tradition and Historical Methodology by Jan Vansina: A Study

This essay provides an analysis of Jan Vansina's perspective on oral tradition and historical methodology, highlighting the changes in oral tradition and the challenges in quantifying and recording oral history. It discusses the viability and authenticity of oral sources from non-literate communities and draws similarities between oral traditions and oral history, noting potential errors and the importance of verification with written history. The essay also summarizes an interview with Sam Anch, covering key moments in his life, including his humble beginnings, his career as a boxer and referee, his involvement in politics, and his community contributions. The analysis uses sources like Google Books and the Truman Library archives. Desklib provides access to this and many similar assignments.

Running head: HISTORY
HISTORY
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

1HISTORY
Summary of the Oral Tradition and the History Methodology by Jan Vansina
The passage on Oral Tradition and the Historical Methodology by Jan Vansina presents
the overall condition of the oral tradition of maintaining historical records and stories in today`s
world. It focuses on how Oral tradition has changed to a great extent. The excerpt describes how
the oral tradition and related oral history workers have passes through generations, however,
there tends to exist a considerate gap as to the manner in which these oral history workers and
their accounts can be quantified and recorded. The paper presents a discussion on the viability
and authenticity of the oral sources from the non-literate communities. Various students who are
engaged in this kind of a study often tend to overlook this aspect and hence, this aspect is often
left untouched.
The paper has highlighted the similarities which exist between the oral traditions and oral
history which are quite related to one another. In consideration with this, it highlights how errors
and false aspects can be introduced in the field of the oral history and how it needs to be tallied
accordingly to verify it with the written history. This paper tends to provide useful criteria to the
different historians who can assist them in differentiating between the community storytelling
and the historical facts. In addition to this, it will also highlight how in Africa, the oral tradition
remains a living force. The paper as provided Vansina`s insight into the different functions of the
oral narrative and how it can contribute to the post literate society.

2HISTORY
Bibliography
Google.com 2020 Oral Tradition [online]. Available at:
https://books.google.com/books/about/Oral_Tradition.html?id=zKbGbwzpCHsC (Retrieved
from: 15 March. 2020).

3HISTORY
Interview with Sam Anch
The interview has been undertaken with Sam Anch and tends to cover key moments of
his life. The interview has been undertaken rather informally and in a chronological manner. At
first the interviewer has asked Anch about his personal life and explicit details about where he
was born and what his background was. It can be successfully identified that Sam comes from a
rather humble background and has made it big with the help of his own individual capabilities. In
association with this, it becomes increasingly crucial to ensure that, it was the hard work of Sam
Anch which enabled him to perform well.
His background has now shifted to his married life whereby he narrates the story of how
he got his first house. His wife and he would live in rented apartments but would be required to
shift regularly. However, due to his wife`s determination, they were able to purchase the house
faster and in association with this, were able to ensure that, they establish a good lifestyle for
themselves.
At a later stage, the interview revolved around his articles on the newspapers, his journey
as a boxer and later on as a referee. His time at the Golden Gloves was discussed extensively and
how he was involved in the administrator was also discussed extensively. Moreover, this was
then followed by a discussion on his journey in Politics and how he got involved in the same. It
was never his intention to get involved in politics but somehow he was able to get involved in the
same and has had a successful career thereby. The interview also outlined is associations with
Clarence Kelly, John Lazia, and Lous Mazuch.
Moreover, he was asked about the related associations at the Ringside Arena, the War
Finance Committee and his good deeds which have made him considerably popular in the career.
Setting up the War committee was not an easy task, however, Sam was able to manage the same
in an appropriate manner and begin the operations because he believed in undertaking the
initiatives in the right manner. He had a brief career in the field of Insurance as well and the
interviewer asked him about the same. Hence, it can be rightfully mentioned that how did he get
a career in insurance, his overall success in association with the same and how he was able to
perform adequately well. Moreover, his journey has been traced in the interview with utmost
sensitivity.

4HISTORY
Sam participated in the various Shreiff races and relays where he won twice. Sam was
involved as a MC in a variety of events and in association with this; he was largely involved in a
variety of events which enabled him to carry out the different operations in a successful. As Sam
belonged to the North Side area, he was later given the responsibility to measure and look out for
the same. This assisted him in contributing to the community effectively.

5HISTORY
Bibliography
Trumanlibrary.gov 2020. Oral histories [online]. Available at:
https://www.trumanlibrary.gov/library/oral-histories/anchs#transcript (Retrieved from: 15
March. 2020).