Oral History and Public Memories

How does oral history, based as it is on individual memory,affect beliefs about the history of a whole community? Is oralhistory compelling enough to influence an interpretation ofa community's history when powerful groups insist on a differentinterpretation? Hamilton and Shopes have chosen a collectionof articles that present a range of perspectives, a diversityof problems, and a variety of specific sites in which to testanswers to these questions. Oral history interviews often turnup surprises, and this book is full of surprises. In the first section, David Neufield begins his article, "ParksCanada, the Commemoration of Canada, and the Northern AboriginalOral     

当代中国史研究与口述史学

当代中国史是历史学家族中最年轻的一门学科,也是目前最有活力、发展最快的研究领域之一。口述史学的出现适应了时代的需要,也顺应了国史变革的方向。寻求二者的最佳结合途径能使二者相得益彰,“合之则两美,离之则两伤”。当代中国史研究需要通过开展口述史来拓展研究视野,活跃研究思路,并弥补与修正史料之不足,以最大程度地发挥其面向社会公共教育和启迪的功能。     

现代口述史的产生及相关几个概念的辨析

口述历史是针对文献证史而言的,产生于20世纪中期。它以录音为依据,是口述者与史学工作者合作的成果,所以既不同于传统的口述方法,也不同于回忆录。口述史学在学科层次上与史料学大体相当,从属于历史学。     

Phenomenology and the Problems of Oral History

Abstract: In this article, the author argues that many of thebest practices of oral history reflect phenomenological thinkingeven though practitioners may not describe themselves as usingphenomenological methods. The author suggests that knowledgeand application of phenomenology can clarify or minimize suchpotential problems as interviewer bias and informant unreliabilityand can refute accusations that oral history is less reliablethan history taken from documents.     

Presidential Oral History: The Clinton Presidential History Project

Most conventional oral history takes a bottom-up approach tothe past, focusing on settings where there is little in theway of a functional written record. This essay discusses thevalue of oral history in the opposite case of the American presidency.The written archive and journalistic record on each presidentis immense. Yet oral history is a valuable resource in thiselite environment, too. There are routine silences in even thebest of presidential papers, which oral history interviews canhelp fill. Moreover, the White House has become a workplacewhere recorded details can be hazardous to one's political health.Accordingly, few presidential aides today keep diaries or notesof key meetings—impoverishing the archive future historianswill use to study the presidency of our times. Oral historythus fortifies a weakening documentary record. This essay exploresthese broad issues and how they are being dealt with in theconduct of the William J. Clinton Presidential History Project.     

Four Paradigm Transformations in Oral History

This paper reviews critical developments in the internationalhistory of oral history and outlines four paradigmatic revolutionsin theory and practice: the postwar renaissance of memory asa source for 'people's history'; the development, from the late1970s, of 'postpositivist' approaches to memory and subjectivity;a transformation in perceptions about the role of the oral historianas interviewer and analyst from the late 1980s; and the digitalrevolution of the late 1990s and early 2000s. Threaded throughdiscussion of these paradigm shifts are reflections upon fourfactors that have impacted oral history and, in turn, been significantlyinfluenced by oral historians: the growing significance of politicaland legal practices in which personal testimony is a centralresource; the increasing interdisciplinarity of approaches tointerviewing and the interpretation of memory; the proliferationfrom the 1980s of studies concerned with the relationship betweenhistory and memory; and the evolving internationalism of oralhistory.     

构建中国特色、中国风格和中国气派的中国口述史学--关于口述史料与口述史学的若干问题

口述史料主要指经过口传或为后人记录成为史料的民间传说、社会歌谣、历史人物讲话、录音录像以及访问调查的原始资料,对这些资料的发掘和整理被称作口述史学.在西方,现代意义上的口述史学建立于20世纪30～40年代前后,与这些国家相比我国至今仍充其量只有一些口述史的实践,其发展受到多方面的限制.建议成立有关组织,召开研讨会,构建相关规范,制定相关规划,形成和发展中国特色、中国风格和中国气派的口述史学.     

民族志和口述史的内在类同

民族志(ethnography)是人类学家对于被研究的种族、部落、区域的人之生活的描述与见解。口述史(oral history)是“对有关某些个体之过去的口述证词的记录与解释”。占在对民族志与口述史研究的关注过程中,它们或隐或现的若干共通之处总使我不由自主地将二者相互联系、加以比照,     

Collaborating With Sex Workers in Oral History

It took several decades for sex workers to become true speakers,rather than testifiers to the speech of others. Tensions understandablyremain about sharing authority with oral historians. This articlereflects on attempts to share authority in setting up, funding,organizing, and publishing from a UK sex work project. It questionswhether commitment to share authority compromises scholarshipand theoretical development, and how an oral historian's roleis affected by a parallel advocacy role. It explores the formationand boundaries of collaborative relationships and briefly raisesthe issue of crossing legal boundaries in less orthodox projectwork and implications for ethical permissions.     

Pushing Boundaries in Oral History Based Biographies

The author comments on three preceding articles, two by authorsof oral history–based biographies (Sandy Polishuk's biographyof Julia Ruuttila and Catherine Fosl's biography of Anne Braden)and a third by their editor, Deborah Gershenowitz. The authoracknowledges the constraints imposed on the authors of oralhistory–based biographies, both by the refusal of biographicalsubjects to discuss certain matters and by the necessary honingthat editors undertake. While granting the need for author-subjectand author-editor negotiations and revisions, the author (ofthis commentary) insists on the value of pushing boundariesin oral history–based biographies and finds encouragementin the process of dialog, negotiation, and compromise that improvedthe books under consideration.     

Talking about Remembering and Forgetfulness in Oral History Interviews

In this article, the author seeks to open a discussion of explicittalk about remembering in oral history interviews. He exploresways of talking about remembering and forgetfulness in oralhistory interviews and the effects of such talk on the interviewrelationship as well as on the process of recall itself. Thearticle provides examples of collaborative remembering betweenthe narrator and the interviewer, the recall of specific detailsand reports of exceptional clarity of memory as well as justificationsof faulty memory. Reported speech in oral history narrativesis considered as a clear case of constructing as opposed toremembering the past. Throughout, the author frames questionsconcerning the significance of talk about remembering and forgetfulnessfor the evaluation of the events and personal identities expressedin the oral history interview.     

口述史二题:记忆与诠释

记忆问题主要是指记忆的可靠性问题,或者从另外一个角度说是口述史学的客观性问题。口述历史的诠释性是口述历史的哲学理论基础,它为其作为历史研究方法的价值性存在提供哲学层面的论述。记忆问题和诠释性是口述史学研究中的两个核心要点,对它们的研究直接关系到口述史学研究范式的形态和深度。     

小议志书口碑资料

本文根据修志实践,认为口碑资料对文字资料有补史之缺、参史之错、详史之略、续史之无的作用,还指出口碑资料具有翔实的资料性、珍贵的收藏性、生动的趣味性、丰富的可读性、真实的权威性。     

Before Columbia: The FWP and American Oral History Research

This article compares and contrasts the approaches of the NewDeal Federal Writers' Project and the Columbia Oral HistoryProgram in an effort to reconsider the paradoxical history oforal history research in the United States and its relationshipto how many oral historians today look at their work and thehistory of their field. As it turns out, the theoretical andsocial concerns of the FWP projects are closer to current theoreticalconcerns of oral historians than the work Allan Nevins conductedin the early years of the Columbia project. The article alsoshows how awareness of the history of the intellectual and culturalcurrents that affect oral history projects in general, and theFWP's work in particular—interviews with former slaves,tenant farmers, industrial workers, and members of ethnic minorities—canhelp us analyze and use those materials. It argues that an awarenessof continuity and discontinuity in the history of oral historymakes it possible for today's oral historians to have a productivedialogue with their predecessors in the field.     

当代中国口述史学透视

1948年哥伦比亚大学口述历史研究室的建立 ,正式标志着现代口述史学的诞生。经过 50多年的发展 ,口述史学成为历史学中一支举足轻重的分支学科。但是 ,到底中国有没有口述史学 ?这个问题很少被人问及 ,也很少有人做出明确的回答。口述史学在中国的发展和普遍流行将是一个必然的趋势 ,甚至在随后的几年内会有一个发展高潮。那么未来中国口述史学将如何发展 ,以一个怎样的高度作为起点呢 ?要解决这个问题 ,笔者觉得应该了解中国口述史学的渊源和现状。本文集中探讨当代中国口述史学的发展状况。     

论现代影音媒体与当代口述史学的关系

现代影音媒体资料的学术价值主要体现在当代史研究之中。现代影音媒体与当代口述史学既有联系又有区别。就形式而言,二者可互补而不能替代;就技术而言,二者可互相借鉴而不能照搬。当代口述史研究应学习现代影音媒体灵活多样的采访技术,同时搜集整理有价值的影音资料加以研究;而现代影音媒体应学习口述史研究客观的方法和态度,同时科学地保存有价值的影音资料。影音媒体资料可以有条件地成为史料,但必须经过史料学的检验和甄别。现代影音媒体资料不仅丰富了当代口述史研究的史料来源,而且在一定程度上拓宽了当代史研究的视野。     

Collaborative Oral History in a Correctional Setting: Promise and Pitfalls

This article examines the challenges of collaborative oral historyresearch. Collaborative oral history—sometimes called"reciprocal ethnography"—involves the process of engagingour interviewees in the analysis of the interviews we generateand/or the creation of any products drawn from those interviews.The article contrasts the author's earlier experience on anoral history/photographic book with a more recent collaborationon an oral history and performance project in a correctionalinstitution. The author focuses on the difficulties of "sharingauthority" in collaborative research within a correctional setting,raising issues about the promise and pitfalls of collaborativeoral history research more generally.