This week’s reading assignment was Oral History Theory by Lynn Abrams. A concise and extremely accessible overview of the theory and practice of oral history, Abrams’ work is valuable to a wide variety of audiences: the greenest of beginners seeking a true introduction to the field of oral history; the scholar, researcher, or student familiar with but not firmly grasping the nuances and particularities of doing oral history projects; and even the experienced oral historian—or anyone else of a differing profession who has conducted oral histories—seeking further commentary on the field or concrete examples of real-world oral histories as they relate to the book’s themes.
Oral History Theory is divided into seven thematic chapters (plus an additional one with the revised second edition), all incredibly relevant to oral history as a research methodology. Chapter 02 is a general overview of the distinctiveness of oral history and its particular interpretive models. Chapter 03 is a discussion of the “construction, identity, and consciousness” of the interviewee’s “Self” (Abrams, p. 17). Chapter 04 is a dive into the interview process itself in relation to the concepts of subjectivity and intersubjectivity. Chapter 05 explores memory and theories of memory as they relate to oral history. Chapter 06 considers how narrative structures create recollections and stories of memory. Chapter 07 describes the performative quality and aspects of memory stories. Chapter 08 investigates relationships of power found in the production and interpretation of oral histories. Finally, Chapter 09 is an in-depth analysis of trauma, in the form of crisis oral histories, and how psychological theories and ethical considerations impact the exploration of traumatic experiences in oral history.
Although expressly titled Oral History Theory (underlining my own) I found there to be one significant limitation of Abrams’ book: the lack of a comprehensive outline, perhaps even a chapter, relating to the planning and organization of an oral history project. This is by no means to say that Abrams’ work is ungrounded and stuck floating in the clouds of theory. Quite the contrary. Abrams provides numerous practical and insightful examples of real-world complications, considerations, and facets of doing oral history, including but not limited to: the ethical conundrum of utilizing a linguistic and cultural translator, who perhaps has manipulatory motivations of their own, found by Stacey Zembrzycki and Nadia Jones-Gailani (second edition, p. 193); the scholarship of Alistair Thompson writing about his interviewing ANZAC veterans of the Gallipoli Campaign and the discursive nature of the cultural circuit of war memory (p. 69); and Abrams’ own project, about the history women in the Shetland islands, uncovering the purposeful repetition of particular narrative devices (p. 128). Abrams does not shy away from drawing upon real-world examples and incorporates them well into a discussion of oral history theory and practice. However, it is missing emphasis or commentary on the actual planning, organization, and logistics of doing oral history. All of Oral History Theory is written under the assumption, more or less, that an oral history project is off the ground and underway; all of the chapters deal with issues to be uncovered in the midst of conducting an oral history interview, or after the fact, when interpreting it. I would have greatly appreciated some insight into the specifics of how exactly to get an oral history project from the drawing board into action. How does one go about selecting possible interviewees/narrators—or what constitutes a “good” narrator? What’s the best way to contact them? What equipment is best secured and made available before starting? How do you select an appropriate location to meet and actually conduct the oral history? Perhaps these more logistical questions are beyond the scope of an Oral History Theory, but I believe them to be simple (or perhaps not?) yet foundational questions and issues that could have been explored in more detail.
