Reviews the development of the oral history tradition in China. Identifies a number of problems that presently exist in the use of oral history in this country. (RKM)

Discusses William Cutler III's call for using oral history as a methodological resource to study the history of education. Explores the interactive possibilities of oral history and educational history, stating that it allows for the study of the personal grassroots side of educational history. (GEA)

Presents 11 selections from Walter Benjamin's essay "The Storyteller" which illustrate how the work milieu and the significance of death are incorporated into stories. Benjamin compares historiography to traditional storytelling, and discusses the effect of the storyteller's need to maintain the listener's interest upon the story's style…

Reports the results of a study which compared oral history and traditional history methods in the areas of cognitive achievement, affective motivation, and instructional preference. Concludes that oral history was effective in fostering greater cognitive achievement, and more positive attitudes. Recommends that oral history be added to traditional…

Examines the relationship between oral history and biography. Looks specifically at three studies of individual American Indians. Investigates the literary forms authors invented, reshaped, or adopted to bring oral narrative into biographic form. (RKM)

One task facing persons who would employ oral sources for writing and teaching the history of the Pacific is the use of testimonies from Pacific Islanders. Discusses issues that should be taken into consideration: memory, testimony as performance, teller as hero, and testimony as conversational narrative. (RM)

Examines a historian's experiences and impressions gained while interviewing the immigrant generation in a community of Jewish chicken farmers in Petaluma, California. Information is presented on the differences in attitudes and aspirations between generations, interview techniques, problems of interviewer credibility, and problems of…

Discusses source monopoly and its effects on historical scholarship. Suggests that what is needed is a series of international depositories which serve as clearinghouses for the creation and preservation of oral materials. Ideally, these clearinghouses would be staffed by specially trained historians. (DB)

The military experience of Ghana in World War II is examined through interviews with ex-servicemen, officers, and civilians. Data were collected concerning personal experiences, patterns of entry into military service, occupational change resulting from enlistment, changes in family life, war related migration patterns, postwar resettlement, and…

This theoretical analysis of historical data collected from oral accounts points out factors (memory, recall, sampling, interview structure, personal interpretation) which make it difficult for the historian to generalize from individual interviews. (AM)

To focus only on collecting traditional forms of folklore can mean missing important forms of oral history and literature. Stories from French Louisiana are used to illustrate the continuing tradition of oral literature in the region and the way in which oral history is altered for the listener's entertainment. (IS)

In the course of collecting and recording oral histories, there is a tendency to overemphasize the individual account and forget the social context. To learn more about social relationships, one can focus on the teller's position, similarities and oppositions in different tellers' versions, and categories used by the teller. (IS)