Walter J. Ong argued that orally based thought in primary oral cultures needs to be retained and retrieved carefully. To do so, he says, “you have to do your thinking in mnemonic patterns, shaped for ready oral recurrence” (Orality and Literacy,1982, p.34). He sorted the thoughts and expressions of oral culture into nine characteristics. Although these characteristics are deduced from a compilation of analyses of Western epics, beginning with the Homeric epics, and African epics, they are very common with the characteristics of Asian oral Utagake: songs to be sung in response. However, the concept of mnemonics is very different.
This study highlights the common points and different points in Asian oral Utagake compared with Ong’s nine characteristics to clarify the original Asian way of mnemonics through Utagake.
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