Pros-
- Transmitted from a primary source
- Easily spread, and spread faster than a textbook
- A form of entertainment in the spread of the stories
Cons-
- More room for variability in the transmission of the history
- More of a possibility of losing the history forever if it's not appealing to the public audience
I think that although more entertaining than textbook history, the Griots are a worse form of the transmission of history. The only definitive way of having the history as it actually happened is for it to be written down. The transfer of history through word of mouth only defiles the story as it gets passed along, because everybody adds their own little thing to it. However, if history is written down originally, that exact same story can be copied word for word, and there's way less of possibility that the history will be defiled.
In conclusion: Textbooks.
