As a linguist–anthropologist, during my long lasting work on the languages and cultures of the Philippines since the seventies, I have been deeply involved in the safeguarding and the analysis of verbal arts, particularly of what I proposed to call the ‘literatures of voice’, long chanted narratives, epics and ballads as performed today.

　　I was able to record, analyze and comprehend the value of these narratives and conceived of a way to safeguard them in collaboration with scholars and knowledgeable persons among fifteen indigenous communities of this relatively small, but complex archipelago in Islands Southeast Asia, the so called ‘Nusantara’ area.

　　This multimedia archive was built up during 20 years at the turn of the 21rst century, the narratives were recorded and video-filmed as performed, then transcribed, translated and analyzed in collaboration with the people.

　　As the conceiver of this virtual collective memory, I shall present first the four types of carriers I systematically set in motion as the chanted narratives were collected among the people and with their collaboration at various levels, from 1991 to 2001 and beyond. Then we will focus on the main components organizing this multimedia archive in the library and on the website we envisioned and were able to build up thanks to Ateneo de Manila University. It was launched during the international conference ‘Songs of Memory’, last January 2011.

　　This Intangible Heritage is now sheltered at the Pardo de Tavera section of the Rizal Library of Ateneo. It is with a limited access on the web and will be presented during this lecture.

　　We shall consider how Philippines educators foresee the use of this multilingual and multiethnic materials in their country and how, as a scholar, I use this new computer technology not only to safeguard but also to analyze these documents. As a matter of fact we are not dealing any longer with ‘texts’ in a written transcript, but also with the very sound of the voices, the music and animated images of the performances. I propose to share my reflections on these oral-aural artistic expressions and their retention by digital technologies and how thank to them we could develop new folkloric theories.
　　　

Source:IEL