Oral tradition as historical evidence: Methodological frameworks for African history

Background: The epistemological status of oral tradition as historical evidence has been debated since the foundational interventions of Vansina in the 1960s. Contemporary African historiography has moved beyond the canonical oral history frameworks to engage with digital oral archive methodologies, critical performance theory, and indigenous research methodologies that reconfigure the relationship between oral testimony, historical truth, and methodological rigour.

Aim: This study examined the methodological frameworks through which oral tradition is assessed as historical evidence in contemporary African historiography, and how digital technologies, performance theory, and indigenous research methodologies have reshaped oral history practice across Nigeria, Kenya, and South Africa.

Methodology: The study employed a systematic methodological review drawing on oral history scholarship, African historiography, and indigenous research methodology literature published between 2022 and 2026, supplemented by analysis of oral archive project documentation from three African national contexts.

Findings: Contemporary oral history methodology has developed substantially beyond Vansina's structural analysis toward integrating performance theory, collaborative ethics, and digital preservation. Indigenous research methodology frameworks have challenged positivist assessment criteria, proposing community validation and relational truth criteria as legitimate epistemological alternatives. Digital oral archives introduce new interpretive possibilities alongside new risks of decontextualisation.

Contributions: The study contributes to the methodology of African oral history by synthesising recent theoretical and practical innovations and proposing an integrated framework that combines performance analysis, indigenous validity criteria, and digital methodology for assessing oral tradition as historical evidence