What is Oral History?
According to the Oral History Association, oral history is a field of study and a method of gathering, preserving, and interpreting the voices and memories of people, communities, and participants in past events. While oral history is one of the oldest types of historical Inquiry, even predating the written word, it has now been revolutionized using 21st-century digital technologies with advancements like recorders and film. (Kaufman, 2013; see also Gardner, 1984).
From an Indigenous perspective, oral history has a meaning that extends far beyond just an archive of recorded interviews. The practice of oral history is essential to the revitalization of Indigenous knowledge, history, and cultural systems. It is a crucial part of how Indigenous people identify and make sense of their place in the world and the world’s place in their communities (Mahuika, 2019).
“More broadly, an indigenous perspective and defining of oral history provide new ways of thinking about the discipline, its methods, political aims, theories, and the form of oral sources. It disrupts powerfully normative and pervasive non-indigenous definitions and invites those working in oral tradition and history to rethink what these phrases mean for native peoples,” (Mahuika, 2019, pg. 1).
Oral History & the Technological Age
Traditional oral history practice assumes that the primary interaction within the project is between the interviewer and interviewee. In the older days, the transcript was considered the most important document and piece of data—as a result, many of the other materials that contributed to the production of the transcript (notes, memos, audio, etc.) were not saved. Because of recent technological advancements, access to quality film and audio and its preservation has become increasingly accessible to various communities and researchers around the world. Preservation and creation have therefore become a moot issue in the field.
These developments have allowed oral historians to adapt and advance the field in a variety of ways. Rather than having a singular piece of data that only reflects a conversation between the interviewer and interviewee, oral historians are able to create multi-modal oral history projects that use a variety of digital mediums including video. Oral history has begun to explore technology in a number of ways. Digital interfaces used for learning have used maps, essays, photos, videos, and links to other oral history collections as a way to make oral history more visually stimulating.
Video Oral Histories &
Participatory Action Research
21st-century developments have propelled video oral histories to new horizons through accessibility and digital quality. The Oakland Community School Project is a great example of these developments. In their work, they’ve been able to use video for oral history interviews, oral history testimonies, video archives, photos, and audio, to accumulate a combination of each into a documentary film. Within this work, they plan to produce essays, audio podcasts, video testimonials, research articles, photo archives, and more. Oral History projects can now utilize a plethora of mediums to broadcast their community histories.
Some scholars argue that “digital technologies can help professors use video oral histories in educational contexts to fulfill the legacy for which they were intended. [Using] oral histories, specifically video oral histories, can lead to a higher level of understanding and greater integration of various kinds of learning. Such learning is inherently active and, for most students, powerfully transformative,” (Gould & Gradowski, 2014).
Participatory Action Research (PAR) is a framework that provides communities (parents, youth, elders, workers, etc.) with tools and opportunities to identify social problems in their community and then empowers them to determine actions and programs that can provide solutions (Cammarota & Fine, 2008). Simply put, PAR is interested in identifying needs and developing solutions alongside communities that are directly impacted by systemic violence.
Video oral histories can be used within PAR to help action teams develop oral histories of the community and allow for them to identify needs and propose solutions using the testimonies of their neighbors and community members.
References
- Cammarota, J., & Fine, M. (Eds.). (2008). Revolutionizing Education: Youth Participatory Action Research in Motion (1st ed.). Routledge.
- Gardner, J. (1984). Oral History and Video in Theory and Practice, The Oral History Review, 12:1, 105-111
- Gould, J. & Gradowski, G. (2014) Using Online Video Oral
Histories to Engage Students in Authentic Research, The Oral History Review - Kaufman, P. (2013) Oral History in the Video Age, The Oral History Review, 40:1, 1-7
- Mahuika, N. L. H. L. H. U. W. N. Z. (2019). Rethinking Oral History and Tradition: An Indigenous Perspective. New York: Oxford University Press.
- TheOCSProject.org