Exploring the Lived Meaning of Oral Tradition Among Indigenous Youth through a Phenomenological Approach in a Changing Cultural Landscape

Abstract

Oral tradition plays a central role in the preservation of cultural identity, particularly within indigenous communities undergoing rapid social transformation. While previous studies have explored the structural dimensions of cultural transmission, the lived experiences of youth as inheritors of oral traditions remain underexamined. Little is known about how young individuals perceive, internalize, and negotiate oral narratives in relation to modernity and identity; this study seeks to understand how they experience and make meaning of oral tradition. Grounded in a descriptive phenomenological framework, this study emphasizes understanding the essence of participants’ lived experiences as they engage with oral tradition. Using a descriptive phenomenological approach, this research investigates the subjective dimensions of cultural inheritance among youth in an indigenous Indonesian community. The phenomenological method guided all stages of the study—from data collection through in-depth, semi-structured interviews to the thematic analysis aimed at identifying invariant meaning structures and essential experiential themes. The results revealed four central themes: oral tradition as identity affirmation, experiences of cultural dissonance, emotional intimacy in intergenerational storytelling, and resilience through remembering. These findings demonstrate that oral tradition is not simply content passed down, but a dynamic and affective process of identity formation and cultural negotiation. The study offers a nuanced understanding of cultural transmission as a lived, internalized experience and highlights the methodological strength of phenomenology in uncovering the depth and texture of such experiences. These insights can inform future studies in cultural education, identity development, and youth heritage engagement in similarly transitioning societies.