In our earliest literatures, cultural transmission was a key aspect of the passing down of stories. The oral tradition functioned as a means to pass along cultural beliefs and to preserve identities, knowledge, and heritage.
To maintain community identity, shared values and beliefs, myths and stories allowed people to codify what was important to them, while also serving as entertainment and as education.
In some cases, stories allowed people in societies to communicate survival in the form of practical representations of farming, medicine, and other aspects of life. In essence, stories became a way of maintaining social cohesion, becoming a form of social glue that maintained collective memory.
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