Research Information System
Iran and the Caucasus, vol.29, no.4-5, pp.516-525, 2025 (AHCI)
Today, oral tradition continues within written culture and electronic media in transformed form. This evolution has been influenced by urbanization and technological developments. Media organizations and digital platforms have increased their influence, leading to transformations in social and cultural domains. Media organizations play an instrumental role in shaping oral heritage through the creation, utilization, and consumption of these traditions. In this new age—characterized by Ong as secondary oral culture and McLuhan as the global village—oral tradition persists within a contemporary framework. This research examines the utilitarian and performance-oriented dimensions of Turkish, Kurdish, and Armenian oral traditions in the Anatolian and Caucasian regions through concrete examples. Cultural components such as poetry, mâni (short, rhymed quatrains), folk melodies, narratives, and allegories are sustained in response to necessities and transformation processes. They are transmitted through digital platforms within a framework that includes bards, dengbêjs (traditional Kurdish minstrels), and gusan/ašuł (bards). These cultural elements become consumable commodities through mass distribution, reinforcing the influence of the cultural industries on radio, television, and cinema.