Volume 30, No 2 (2002) Abstracts
NO PLACE LIKE HOME: RECORDING THE STRUGGLE FOR HOUSING AND WORK UNDER APARTHEID
by Peter Kellett, Mary Mothwa and Mark Napier
Keywords: South Africa; apartheid; home-based enterprise; housing conditions
Abstract: As part of a research project exploring the interrelationship between home-based income generation and housing conditions, detailed interviews were carried out with low income dwellers in Pretoria, South Africa. Drawing on extensive extracts from the transcript of one of these interviews, this paper analyses the destructive impact of apartheid on everyday activities and offers insights into how black people are attempting to overcome this legacy and take greater control of their lives.
RECAPTURING DISTANT CARIBBEAN CHILDHOODS AND COMMUNITIES: THE SHAPING OF THE MEMORIES OF JAMAICAN MIGRANTS IN BRITAIN AND NORTH AMERICA
by Paul Thompson and Elaine Bauer
Keywords: Jamaica; migration; family myths; race; memory
Abstract: The memories of family and community in the childhood of Jamaican-born migrants to Britain and North America, recorded for a project on transnational Jamaican families, are considered in terms of themes and reshapings which suggest the influence of migration on their testimonies: and in particular, the development of family myths of origin, and the stress on communal harmony and mutual aid.
A PASSAGE TO ENGLAND: ORAL TRADITION AND POPULAR CULTURE AMONG EARLY PUNJABI SETTLERS IN BRITAIN
by Darshan S Tatla
Keywords: Madho Ram; Sikhs in Britain; Qissa; workers' songs; popular culture
Abstract: This paper explores the little-known literary expressions of Punjabi life in Britain by means of a composition by a factory worker, Mr Madho Ram of Wolverhampton, a Punjabi immigrant in Britain. Through this long poem, Madho Ram narrates what seems to be his own life experiences conveyed in the typical style of a Punjabi qissa. The paper argues that, besides throwing an insight into the life styles of pioneering Punjabi immigrants to Britain, this qissa captures some elements of popular culture of British Punjabi life. While confirming a stereotypical imagining of Britain by Punjabis as a land of riches, this composition also offers a brief commentary on the dilemmas of Punjabis abroad. The paper highlights the poem's value as an oral narrative and places it in the context of understanding early Punjabi migrants' social and emotional worlds amidst the harsh reality of hard labour and an unfamiliar English life.
LISTEN TO ME! A QUESTION OF OWNERSHIP
by NoëL Menuge with Sue Quinn and Sue Westell
Keywords: memory loss; ethics; life histories; social work; autonomy; personal rights
Abstract: This article questions the rights of outside bodies and authorities to prevent people under their care from telling their life stories, while confronting ethical issues of responsibility and about the control held by both outside bodies and interviewers over their interviewees. It does so by charting the story of Hyacinth, an interviewee with memory loss, and the struggle the Living Archive had with authorities to include her life-story within their recent publication, Listen to Me, a work containing life-stories of people with memory loss and early-onset dementia.
COLLECTING PERSONAL ACCOUNTS OF THE LEWES FLOODS OF OCTOBER 2000
by Joy Preston
Keywords: Lewes; flood victims; emergency services; University of the Third Age
Abstract: This paper describes the origin and progress of the Lewes U3A Oral History Group, a small amateur group, which documented the Lewes floods of October 2000 with interviews with flood victims and emergency services workers. The paper discusses methods and results, with some extracts from interviews. It concludes by considering some of the differences in interviewing about the immediate past as compared with the more usual experience of interviewing about the relatively distant past.
CONFLICTING HISTORIES: APPROACHING THE ETHNIC HISTORY OF IRELAND
by Anthony D Buckley
Keywords: Multiculturalism; positivism; ethnicity; Ireland
Abstract: In Ireland, popular versions of history, found predominantly in the oral tradition, reflect the political and other interests of nationalists and unionists. This article explores two broad responses to these historical traditions. The first is the so-called revisionist approach found among many professional historians, which seeks to replace the 'myths' of nationalists and loyalists with versions of history informed by critical scholarship. The other is a multiculturalism that acknowledges the importance of the diverse intellectual traditions found among one's informants and the general population. A middle course between these approaches can try to be truthful, without being over-eager to criticise popular tradition nor attribute blame.
TALKING ABOUT TECHNOLOGY: ONE EXPERIENCE OF HERITAGE LOTTERY FUNDING
by Frances Cambrook
Keywords: history of technology; heritage lottery fund; interpretation; virtual museum
Abstract: The Heritage Lottery Act 1997 paved the way for the funding of oral history projects by the Heritage Lottery Fund. In February 2000 approval was given to a project entitled 'Talking About Technology', one of the first university-based projects to be funded under the new framework. This article traces and evaluates its design and delivery and highlights the potential dichotomy between academic research and lottery funding.
'ALL OR NOTHING': CURRENT AND FUTURE RECORDING TECHNOLOGIES FOR ORAL HISTORY
by Peter Copeland and Barry Fox with Rob Perks
Keywords: audio equipment; audio preservation; audio-cassette; DAT; MiniDisc; compact disc; DVD; digital; digitisation
Abstract: A review of the present and impending audio recording options for oral history fieldworkers and archivists working in the UK.