ABSTRACT
Oral traditions that have been able to adapt themselves to the changes in their environment have been able to survive to our day in coexistence with forms of literate origin, although mostly relegated to marginal social groups. One of the oral literary genres that still retains great vitality is the Hispanic romancero. Since the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, when the romancero was most popular both at court and among the common people, the occasions for the singing of romanees have become fewer as the genre has been relegated mostly to rural communities. In spite of the more limited occurrence of romance singing, romance narratives continue to function as a means of transmitting social values or commenting on social problems. Whatever change occurs within the narrative structure is consensual and the result of the natural process of adaptation of the text to its dynamic environment and to changing communication needs of the community.
