Challenges to Mainstream History

Oral history - that is, the gathering of historical evidence by means of hearing, and recording, stories from those who have lived through particular times and have particular experiences - is experiencing something of a renaissance because of the additional dimension it can offer. No longer do we experience, or accept, history as one-dimensional, as having only perspective. There is not only one story to tell, nor one dominant viewpoint. It can be said that oral history releases into the community the experiences of the many, rather than the few who hold power and prestige, and who often determine the written record.

Thompson (1988:98) suggests two areas of historical study in particular that have benefited from oral history - those of the study of immigration, and Black History. Both have been able to explore the experiences of those whose stories would not otherwise have been documented: those who migrated, looked for work in a new land, forged new communities, faced racial discrimination and inequality. We can say that oral evidence supports history ‘from below’ that is, that it contributes those experiences and life stories which can sometimes conflict with the perspectives of those who control the political, the economic, and the cultural discourses that can dominate the written record.

Women’s history too, and particularly feminist history, has recognised the potential of using oral evidence to begin to fill some of the many gaps. Until recently, women’s history was often ignored, considered by many historians to be less worthy of documentation simply because women, for the most part, were in the domestic realm of the family, and their contribution to the workplace not considered important. Much of the feminist history over the last thirty years has helped to change this view. Oral history has contributed to this uncovering. For example, we now know much more about women’s lives in the 1940s, and their contributions to the Second World War, thanks to Penny Summerfield’s oral history work in several major research studies. The uniquely gendered experiences of ethnic minority women, migrating to the UK, are explored tellingly in two important works. First, the work of Beverley Bryan, Stella Dadzie and Suzanne Scafe, on Caribbean women, and also that of Amrit Wilson who explores the experiences of Asian women in Britain.