The Meaning and value of Oral History Angela Davis The Meaning and value of Oral History

What is oral history? Oral history is spoken history. It is the recording of people’s unique memories and life stories. It uses personal reminiscences as an alternative and complementary source to the documents on which historians normally rely. Oral history is not only a way in which historians can discover more about the past, but is also a historical discipline in its own right. It can be used to research family history, the history of a particular community, such as a village or street, or can contribute detailed knowledge to wider themes.

Alessandro Portelli: Oral sources ‘tell us not just what people did, but what they wanted to do, what they believed they were doing, what they now think they did…Subjectivity is as much the business of history as the more visible “facts”…’ Alessandro Portelli, The Death of Luigi Trastulli and Other Stories: Form and Meaning in Oral History (Albany: State University of New York Press, 1991), p. 50.

Alessandro Portelli: ‘Oral history…refers [to] what the source [i.e. the narrator] and the historian [i.e. the interviewer] do together at the moment of their encounter in the interview.’ Alessandro Portelli, The Battle of Valle Giulia: Oral History and the Art of Dialogue (Madison: The University of Wisconsin Press, 1997), p. 3.

A.J.P. Taylor: ‘In this matter I am almost a total sceptic…Old men drooling about their youth – No.’ A.J.P. Taylor, quoted in Paul Thompson, The Voice of the Past: Oral History (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1978), p. 70.

Alessandro Portelli: ‘errors, inventions, and myths lead us through and beyond facts to their meanings.’ Alessandro Portelli, The Death of Luigi Trastulli and Other Stories: Form and Meaning in Oral History (Albany: State University of New York Press, 1991), p. 2.

To evaluate an oral history interview, consider the following: Who is the narrator? What is the narrator's relationship to the events under discussion? What stake might the narrator have in presenting a particular version of events? What effect might the narrator's social identity and position have on the interview? How does the narrator present himself or herself in the interview? What sort of character does the narrator become in the interview? What influences--personal, cultural, social--might shape the way the narrator expresses himself or herself? Consider especially how the events under discussion are generally regarded and how popular culture might shape the narrator's account.

To evaluate an oral history interview, consider the following: Who is the interviewer? What background and interests does the interviewer bring to the topic of the interview? How might this affect the interview? How do the interviewer's questions shape the story told? Has the interviewer prepared for the interview? How adept is the interviewer in getting the narrator to tell his/her story in his/her own way? What effect might the interviewer's social identity and position have on the interviewee, and hence the interview? How might the dynamic between narrator and interviewer affect what is said in the interview? Does the interviewer have a prior relationship with the interviewee?

To evaluate an oral history interview, consider the following: What has been said in the interview? How has the narrator structured the interview? What's the plot of the story? What does this tell us about the way the narrator thinks about his/her experience? What motifs, images, anecdotes does the narrator use to encapsulate experience? What can this tell us about how the narrator thinks about his/her experience? What does the narrator avoid or sidestep? What topics does the narrator especially warm to, or speak about with interest, enthusiasm, or conviction? What might this tell us? Are there times when the narrator doesn't seem to answer the question posed? What might be the reason for this? Are there significant factual errors in the narrative? Is it internally consistent? How might you account for errors and inconsistencies? How does the narrator's account jibe with other sources, other interviews? How can you explain any discrepancies?

To evaluate an oral history interview, consider the following: For what purpose has this interview been conducted? How might the purpose have shaped the content, perspective, and tone of the interview? What are the circumstances of the interview? What effect might the location of the interview have had on what was said in the interview? If anyone other than the interviewer and interviewee were present, what effect might the presence of this other person have had on the interview? Do you know the mental and physical health of the narrator and interviewer? What effect might these have had on the interview?

Voices of the Holocaust http://www.bl.uk/learning/histcitizen/voices/holocaust.html

Anonymous http://sounds.bl.uk/Oral-history/Jewish-Holocaust-survivors/021M-C0410X0007XX-0100V0

Edith Birkin http://sounds.bl.uk/Oral-history/Jewish-Holocaust-survivors/021M-C0410X0030XX-0500V0

Barbara Stimler http://sounds.bl.uk/Oral-history/Jewish-Holocaust-survivors/021M-C0410X0004XX-1000V0