orature

Meanings

1. The oral equivalent of literature: a collection of traditional folk songs, stories, etc., that is communicated orally rather than in writing.

1. Variant of oratour (“a small room or chapel used for prayer and worship, or for private study; an oratory”).

Etymology

Blend of oral + literature, said to have been coined by the Ugandan linguist and literary theorist Pio Zirimu (died 1977): see the 1972 quotation.