1 A 19th and 20th Century Oral Story of the Bakairi People: A Comparative Study Geraldo FARIA Abstract In this study, I will investigate how much linguistic content of a Bakairi oral story remains analogous in a recent recording as well as which linguistic changes occur over time, presumably influenced by the storytellers’ viewpoint and natural changes in the language. In 1887, Steinen (1892: 235-244) documented an oral story about a jaguar and an anteater, in which the anteater tricks the powerful jaguar. The same 19th- century story is occasionally retold in Bakairi festivals. A 20th-century recording of the story shows how the Bakairi people have safeguarded its remote culture as well as its collective identity through the careful listening and retelling of its stories. At first, I will briefly look at some theoretical frameworks of narratology and storytelling. Then I will discuss the two oral texts, followed by a study of what remains analogous and what has become dissimilar. The analysis will point out expected reasons for retention of oral tradition among illiterate speakers of the language. Key words: Bakairi, storytelling, endangered language, underdescribed language 1. Theoretical Background Within illiterate societies, narratives play a vital role in the creation of a personal and shared sense of continuity and history. Some narratives are reportable for a long time, forming part of the speakers’ life story, often a discontinuous composite of narratives (Fagundes 1, Frawley 444). However, in the South American Indigenous context, it is posited that oral narratives are the only form of communal history, through legends and myths even before the colonial imposition (Espino 40). These