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Four paradigm transformations in oral history: a review essay

journal contribution
posted on 2023-06-07, 19:41 authored by Al Thomson
This essay reviews critical developments in the history of oral history and outlines four paradigm transformations in theory and practice: the postwar renaissance of memory as a source for 'people's history'; the development, from the late 1970s, of 'post-positivist' approaches to memory and subjectivity; a transformation in perceptions about the role of the oral historian as interviewer and analyst from the late 1980s; and the digital revolution of the late 1990s and early 2000s. Threaded through discussion of these paradigm shifts are reflections upon four factors that have impacted upon oral history and, in turn, been significantly influenced by oral historians: the growing significance of political and legal practices in which personal testimony is a central resource; the increasing interdisciplinarity of approaches to interviewing and the interpretation of memory; the proliferation from the 1980s of studies concerned with the relationship between history and memory; and the evolving internationalism of oral history.

History

Publication status

  • Published

Journal

Oral History Review

ISSN

1533-8592

Publisher

Oxford University Press

Issue

1

Volume

34

Page range

49-70

Pages

22.0

Department affiliated with

  • Centre for Community Engagement Publications

Full text available

  • No

Peer reviewed?

  • Yes

Legacy Posted Date

2012-02-06

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    University of Sussex (Publications)

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