Editors: Paula Hamilton, Linda Shopes
Series: Critical Perspectives on the Past
Publisher: Temple University Press
Published: April 17, 2008
Format: Paperback
ISBN-13: 978-1592131419

Oral History and Public Memories, a groundbreaking international collaboration, advances a bold argument: that oral history is not just an “archival activity.” Developed by the editorial duo of Linda Shopes, an American freelance editor and past co-editor of the Palgrave Studies in Oral History series, and Paula Hamilton, an Australian history professor and co-editor of The Oxford Handbook of Public History, this thoughtfully-assembled collection of essays was initiated at the suggestion of British oral historian Paul Thompson.

Summary

The editors and contributors of this book posit that the methodological practice of oral history, though beloved by oral historians, is all too often overlooked by scholars exploring the growing field of memory studies and has only relatively recently been tapped into by public historians. The volume aims to bridge these gaps and to highlight the significance of oral history in connecting the past and the present, and in linking narrative to action. A trailblazing collection of essays, this book challenges limitations in the way we think about oral history and its role in memory studies and public history.

This thought-provoking volume describes the lack of depthful exploration by oral history practitioners of the role of interviews in memory-related processes. It also outlines the reasons for the lack of engagement with oral history on the part of recent scholarship in the fields of history, anthropology, sociology, and cultural studies, where there have been works concerned with “historical memory” – a term elucidated by American scholar Michael Frisch in his influential 1990 book A Shared Authority: Essays on the Craft and Meaning of Oral and Public History. There, Frisch defines historical memory as “how people make sense of their past, how they connect individual experience and its social context and how the past becomes part of the present, and how people use it to interpret their lives and the world around them.”

This book challenges limitations in the way we think about oral history and its role in memory studies and public history.

Oral History and Public Memories aims to bridge the gap between practitioners of oral history and scholars involved in the field of memory studies. The book acknowledges the lack of engagement between these two groups and presents reasons for this disconnect. It also highlights recent collaborations in the realm of public history and calls for greater engagement. The book functions as a link across multiple fields, disciplines, discourses, and practices involved in work around memory, and represents the efforts of Hamilton and Shopes to provide a constructive and distinctive contribution to the field.

Thoughtful organization that supports a distinctively insightful understanding of oral history

To achieve its goal, the book is divided into fourteen chapters, organized into three sections: “Creating Heritage,” “Recreating Identity and Community,” and “Making Change.” It showcases a variety of projects from around the world and across different settings, all of which demonstrate an understanding of oral history as a tool for gaining a deeper understanding of historical memory, the practical work of public history, and the articulation, formulation, and representation of public memories. Hamilton and Shopes assert that this understanding distinguishes this volume from much previous work in oral history and memory studies. One of the positive outcomes of this understanding, the book argues, is action for the future.

A fascinating book for academic researchers, community historians, travel enthusiasts, and history-loving tourists

Part of the Critical Perspectives on the Past series (available in both Kindle and Paperback Edition formats), Oral History and Public Memories is designed to broaden the understanding and appreciation of oral and public historians, history scholars, memory studies experts, and students. Existing reviews indicate that the book has fulfilled its objectives, with Valerie Yow, who wrote a review for the academic journal The Oral History Review and a review on Amazon, praising the book on both platforms. In her Amazon review, entitled “Excellent collection of articles that interest and surprise,” Yow wrote that the “book is fascinating reading because the research strategies are brilliant and conclusions to the research are surprising.” K McCray, an oral historian who was “seeking to learn more about how this method intersects with public history,” also gave the book a glowing review, calling it “essential reading.” Additionally, students have weighed in, with D.J.C. describing it as a “manual for oral history students” and Sarah saying that it “was interesting and provides a good introduction to the topic.”

Oral History and Public Memories offers an interesting read not only for those involved in academic research but also for travel enthusiasts and history-loving tourists. Its essays explore the heart of placeness, memory, and meaning in various global locations. From the Chilkoot Trail, spanning North American sites in the United States and Canada, to New South Wales, Australia; from the North Island of New Zealand, to Singapore, Colombia, Kosovo, and Cleveland, this volume’s fourteen chapters offer readers a range of unique opportunities to explore the stories of places around the world in a refreshingly new light, beyond the superficiality that often characterizes popular travel destination literature.

Enduring impact

Although Oral History and Public Memories was published over a decade and a half ago in 2008, it has not lost its distinctiveness and value in the face of newer works treating similar topics that have followed in its wake. In fact, recent mentions of the book in works such as the 3rd edition of Doing Oral History and the 4th edition of The Voice of the Past: Oral History, both part of the 30-book Oxford Oral History Series (available in Kindle, Paperback, and Hardcover Edition formats), are indicative of its continuing reach and impact.