Gateways logo

ISSN 1039-3498 | no. 62 | April 2003


Summer Scholar, Ruth Nicholls, Discovers the Value of Oral History

Ruth Nicholls

Ruth Nicholls

 

During January and February 2003 I was lucky enough to study at the National Library of Australia as one of the Norman McCann Summer Scholars. My research was based in the Oral History Section of the Library and focused on a collection called ‘Seven Years On’, which documents the continuing life histories of emerging and emerged Aboriginal leaders.

Prior to my time at the Library, I had never worked in the area of oral history. Within a matter of a few weeks I realised how much this area of historical documentation has to offer, to both researchers and to Australian history in general. Means of recording and maintaining history is inevitably influenced by technology. It is important for historians to engage with different kinds of material, and oral history must surely be considered a legitimate source as it has made a substantial contribution to the documentation of Australian people and their folklore.

Oral history can be viewed as a culturally appropriate way of recording Indigenous life history. In addition it also provides material that is immediate, raw and spontaneous. During the process of listening to the tapes, I began to learn more about myself as an interpreter of the material. My approach towards the material was to listen to it, rather than read the transcripts simultaneously with listening. I became conscious of the difference between listening to someone talk about their life as compared with reading a life history. In terms of theory (such as post-colonial ideas) writing culturally alters the spoken word.

The spontaneity of thoughts, ideas and verbal expression makes these interviews so wonderful to listen to. You can hear people laugh, the tone of their voice, their pace, the way in which they use Aboriginal English or say place names, a cough, a giggle, an affirmative ‘yeah’, someone singing the words to a song they wrote. All of these things are impossible to convey perfectly in writing. I found myself responding to the human voice, perhaps by laughing at a joke or an affirmative ‘mmm’. The difference between the written and the aural is alluded to in the introductory notes of the transcripts, which explain: ‘Readers of this interview transcript should bear in mind that this is a verbatim transcript of the spoken word and reflects the informal, conversational style that is inherent in such historical sources’.

I gained an insight into both the power of the material, and myself in terms of the impact that my own culture and background may play in my interpretation of the material. Oral history challenged my relationship with historical material. I became more self-conscious of cultural point of view the closer I came to interpreting what I had listened to. I also found that working with material which is very much ‘alive’ was different from working with older sources, as I needed to put energy into seeking permission just to listen to some of the tapes. It is important that researchers are aware of, and respect, the process of seeking permission to use and listen to oral material.

It is also important to remember that the interviews are a product of a combined effort on the part of the interviewers and the interviewees. The types of questions posed inevitably mirrored the perceptions of the interviewers. In the case of Seven Years On, the interview technique was informal and localised. It involved getting the interviewees to discuss their family history and their schooling, early memories and current interests. This more informal style of interview enabled the participants to open up and reveal a great deal about their lives and their community. The dynamics of having both Indigenous and non-Indigenous people on the interview team provided an excellent way of probing the interviewees’ cultural perspectives.

This collection of oral history material, in its unedited glory presents an Aboriginal view of contemporary Australian society. Gary Okihiro, Professor of International and Public Affairs and Director of the Centre for the Study of Ethnicity and Race at Columbia University says that oral history, ‘Besides being a tool for recovering history … has the potential for raising social consciousness and can provide strategies for social change’ (Okihiro 1996: 210)—the Seven Years On collection realises this potential.
—Ruth Nicholls

| Contents list for this issue of Gateways |


Please address any comments and enquiries to The Editor, Gateways: mbrooks@nla.gov.au

Gateways logo