Memorability in Narration: An Overview of Mnemonic Features in Oral and Written Tradition
Memorability in Narration: An Overview of Mnemonic Featuresin Oral and Written Tradition

Summary/Abstract: How does narration effect memory? This comprehensive paper investigates memorability in narratology, especially in oral tradition, and how mnemonic features helped generations remember long epic stories, followed by how the invention of writing forwent and changed some mnemonic features while other features remained. The effects of discourse and theme elements on human memory will also be investigated. Several facets of memory will be explored, including leading theories on how memories are formed physiologically in the brain, how oral stories have been remembered and transmitted through long spans of time by visiting the scholarship of oral traditions, and the effect of writing on narration will also be briefly examined to better understand which features remain from oral tradition and which features have been forgone. Finally, the investigation of narrative elements in the oral tradition and writing will be used to illuminate what features make narration memorable. Modern narrative theories will also be discussed briefly to compare what features overlap with oral tradition. Primarily, the aim will be to understand the ways in which narratives enact on long-term memory based on salient, emotive, and relatable attributes.

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