Articles

Beyond Oral Evidence: Speaking (Con)strictly About Oral History

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Abstract

The recorded interview is a central component of oral history reminiscences, but several scholars in North America and Europe, representing diverse research fields, have liberally expanded the definition of oral history. They include other types of archival materials, many with orality in their origins but significantly without the essential characteristics of oral history. The author illustrates the recurring and unwarranted designation of such records as oral history documents. Revising definitions of oral history he broached in 1980 and 1984, he proposes a new version, emphasizing the critical interaction between interviewer-historians and historically knowledgeable informants, but still archivally based.

How to Cite:

Morrissey, C. T., (1992) “Beyond Oral Evidence: Speaking (Con)strictly About Oral History”, Archival Issues 17(2), 89–94. doi: https://doi.org/10.31274/archivalissues.10607