The World Oral Literature Project was ''"an urgent global initiative to document and disseminate endangered oral literatures before they disappear without record"''. Directed by Dr

Mark Turin Mark Turin (born 1973) is a British anthropologist, linguist and occasional radio broadcaster who specialises in the Himalayas and the Pacific Northwest. Turin was interim editor of the journal ''Pacific Affairs'' from 2023-2024. He is an asso ...

and co-located at the Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, at the

University of Cambridge The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...

and

Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Stat ...

, the project was established in January 2009. From March 2013 the organization ceased funding projects, whilst maintaining online resources.

Objective

The World Oral Literature Project provided small grants to fund the collecting of

oral literature Oral literature, orature, or folk literature is a genre of literature that is spoken or sung in contrast to that which is written, though much oral literature has been transcribed. There is no standard definition, as anthropologists have used v ...

, with a particular focus on the peoples of Asia and the Pacific, and on areas of cultural disturbance. In addition, the Project hosted training workshops for grant recipients and other engaged scholars. The World Oral Literature Project also publishes oral texts and occasional papers, and makes collections of oral traditions accessible through online media platforms such as Cambridge Streaming Media Service and

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Activities

Research

Fourteen funded oral literature fieldwork and documentation projects were completed between 2009-2013.

Online collections

The World Oral Literature Project collected data gathered by grantees and anthropology fieldworkers as well as historic collections. This data is primarily audio and visual files that are either born digital or are digitised by the Project. This material is archived using

and, where culturally appropriate, disseminated to the public through the World Oral Literature Project websites and streaming media services.World Oral Literature Project: Collections
World Oral Literature Project.

Occasional Paper series

Papers published by the World Oral Literature Project and

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Database

Researchers at the World Oral Literature Project have compiled a database of language endangerment levels, including references to collections and recordings of oral literature that exist in archives around the world. Data on language endangerment are drawn from the ''online Ethnologue'', the ''UNESCO Atlas of the World’s Languages in Danger'', and from a 'red list' compiled by Professor William Sutherland in the Department of Zoology at the University of Cambridge.Database
/ref> However the project states ''The World Oral Literature Project does not take responsibility for the accuracy of the materials that our researchers have compiled from these three sources, and the Project does not have the staffing capacity to keep these resources up to date.''.

References

{{Reflist

External links

World Oral Literature Project
Organisations associated with the University of Cambridge Oral history Educational projects Research projects Projects established in 2009 Projects disestablished in 2013