ORAL HISTORY AS A DISCIPLINE

ORAL HISTORY AS A DISCIPLINE

One. INTRODUCTION

Every individual, family and place have a history of its own which may contribute knowledge and understanding to the study of history and wider themes. Unfortunately, written sources are not always available on all themes or time periods and/or are, at times, not adequate. Oral history may provide a type of historical source among others, to gain information, fill the gaps and add to a more balanced view of events and occurrences.

The use of oral history leads to new methodological approaches to the recapturing of the past and a reassessment thereof. By using oral history methods, the researcher may obtain from the lips of the living survivors/victims, a fuller record of their participation in events of historical significance by attending to the complex legacy of memory. In the process, human experience in all its richness is collected, as well as a record of the past gained and even more, through oral history interviews, an on-going discussion about the meaning of the past may continue.

Two. DEFINING ORAL HISTORY

The use of oral history is not new; it is as old as history itself and predates the written record. Oral history already existed when academic history was developing among the educated strata of society. The use of personal testimony in the gaining of knowledge about society has never ceased. It was a community-based tradition, since most societies have always recognised the worth of preserving and passing on some kind of knowledge of the past, protecting an accumulating heritage.

Stricklin and Sharpless remind us that the 'inexhaustible voice' precedes and will outlive the written word as the deepest and most permanent expression of the human heart. Still and Thompson add even more power to the spoken word when reasoning that: "words from the heart are more alive than your scribblings. When we speak, our words burn". It is true that one would rather listen to someone speaking directly, than reading about him or her through another's words. Words, therefore, have an authenticity and effectiveness which is difficult to match. These authors go further and give authority to oral testimony when explaining that: "The spoken word cuts across barriers of wealth, class, and race. It is as much the prerogative of ordinary people as of those in positions of power and authority. It requires neither formal education, nor the ability to read and write, nor fluency in any national or official language". Grele confirms all these ideas by concluding that even in our age of general literacy and pervasive media communication "the real and secret history of humankind" is shared in conversations. In other words, most people still form their "basic understanding of their own past through conversations with others".

Oral history differs from oral tradition, which works not only on the level of fact, but also on that of myth and applies both to a process and to its products. The products of oral tradition are a collection of oral messages and narratives passed down and transmitted verbally, and only verbally, from person to person and from generation to generation, beyond the lifetime of any one individual. Jan Vansina describes oral tradition as "reported statements from the past beyond the present generation".

Oral traditions are not contemporary and include oral traditional accounts of past events, stories, sayings, memorised speeches, and songs - spontaneous expressions of the customs, purposes, functions, identity and generational succession of the group of people among whom they emanate. Moss contends that oral tradition is: "broad understandings of the past that originate organically in and out of the cultural dynamics of an evolving society. They come about and exist quite apart from any written language or recording devices and do not depend on them for durability. Oral traditions are the experiences of a whole ethos of previous generations, acquired from the last immediate one and retold in the present, as they are understood by the present generation. They contribute to the social cohesion, dynamic evolution, and durability of the culture they represent. They are changed by the changes in the culture around them, and in turn they serve to shape and mold the evolving culture". In contrast to this, oral history is the direct, immediate, personal experience of those who hold them in memory and involves the eyewitness accounts of events and experiences during the lifetime of the narrator being interviewed; in other words, a type of "immediate history".

Oral history, on the other hand, is nothing more than a branch of historical research. In this context, oral history arises from history's most ancient technique, as well as its most modern technology. The technique of collecting eyewitness accounts of history had already been used by the ancient Greek historians more than two thousand years ago and the recorder, which is part of the modern age, is now used to record oral history. It is an activity that draws upon the most sophisticated skills of professional historians, but it may also be undertaken productively by weekend amateurs, simply by using the basic skill of human conversation.

This "living memory of the past" involves collecting memories and personal commentaries of historical significance by means of recorded interviews. In the process of obtaining historical information and evidence, memory forms the core of oral history.

A basic definition of oral history interviewing would be: "A systematic collection, arrangement, preservation and publication (in the sense of making generally available) of recorded verbatim personal accounts, opinions and reminiscences of historical importance of people who were witnesses to or participants in events or experiences they recount." Trevor Lummis adds to this, providing a formal definition of oral history as: "an account of first-hand experience recalled retrospectively, communicated to an interviewer for historical purposes and preserved on a system of reproducible sound". Consequently, it is primarily a record of perceptions of the person interviewed, whatever that person's position, occupation or circumstances. It provides a record of language and of eyewitness accounts giving insights into society, its changing attitudes and values.

Several terms are used interchangeably with oral history which includes: life history, self-report, personal narrative, life story, oral biography, memoir, recorded memories, the recorded narrative and life review. However, the fact remains that oral history involves the recording of what the narrator can recall from first-hand knowledge and through pre-planned interviews, where the interview is a unique and personal way in which the past and present intersect.

Oral history makes use of the relatively painless medium of relaxed conversations based on well-planned questions to gather information regarding why, how and through what things came to pass. It is about asking questions; questions that, perhaps, have not been asked before, where the information is captured in question- and-answer form.

Recordings of the interview are transcribed, summarised, or indexed and placed in a library or archive. The recorded document is then available for future use as a source to be examined for historical analysis. It thus represents the 'preservation of otherwise perishable historical data' with the human memory as the raw material, to collect reminiscences, which only survives as long as its possessor lives.

As such, oral history, "the history built around people" as a source, becomes a social challenge and an adventure in searching for historical evidence in such a source, with both opportunities and limitations.