From the Oral to the Writing: A Perspective Transformation in the Study of Cultural Memory

The oral narration and the writing are contradictory in the traditional view of history. Compared with traditional archives, oral historical materials have always been in a marginal position due to their instability and other characteristics. However, oral history has unique advantages, such as highlighting the characteristics of human life and subjectivity. Meanwhile, oral historical materials also have limitations. When the perspective is changed from oral to written, human storage and memory become richer, and the cultural storage space to cultivate human nature expands. Jan Assmann believes that the written symbols retained by human beings are the mainstream method to explore the deep cultural consciousness, and most of the “truth” is preserved in the cultural memory with writing and other symbols as the carrier, and its main function is to provide basic value to society. In addition to making up for the limitations of the oral history method, turning the memory research path to writing also helps us cope with the ever-changing society and seek the driving force of cultural development by exploring the depths of history. It can play one constructive role in cultural memory research.