The Oral History Reader

By Robert Perks

Book Overview

The Oral History Reader,

now in its third edition, is a comprehensive, international anthology combining major, 'classic' articles with cutting-edge pieces on the theory, method and use of oral history. Twenty-seven new chapters introduce the most significant developments in oral history in the last decade to bring this invaluable text up to date, with new pieces on emotions and the senses, on crisis oral history, current thinking around traumatic memory, the impact of digital mobile technologies, and how oral history is being used in public contexts, with more international examples to draw in work from North and South America, Britain and Europe, Australasia, Asia and Africa.

Arranged in five thematic sections, each with an introduction by the editors to contextualise the selection and review relevant literature, articles in this collection draw upon diverse oral history experiences to examine issues including:

Key debates in the development of oral history over the past seventy years

First hand reflections on interview practice, and issues posed by the interview relationship

The nature of memory and its significance in oral history

The practical and ethical issues surrounding the interpretation, presentation and public use of oral testimonies

how oral history projects contribute to the study of the past and involve the wider community.

The challenges and contributions of oral history projects committed to advocacy and empowerment

With a revised and updated bibliography and useful contacts list, as well as a dedicated online resources page, this third edition of The Oral History Reader is the perfect tool for those encountering oral history for the first time, as well as for seasoned practitioners.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0415707331
• ISBN13: 9780415707336
• Release Date: November 2015
• Publisher: Routledge
• Length: 742 Pages
• Weight: 3.00 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.6" x 6.8" x 9.6"

Customer Reviews

use it as a text book!

The essays on the public history aspects of oral history usage are a must read! I hope that professors use this as a text book for an oral history class. I encourage them to allow students to pick from the various articles according to their particular interests. Perhaps a professor could require short papers in response to a few of the essays.