The Invention of the Oral

The Invention of the Oral
Author: Paula McDowell
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
Total Pages: 368
Release: 2017-06-13
Genre: Literary Criticism
ISBN: 022645701X

Just as today’s embrace of the digital has sparked interest in the history of print culture, so in eighteenth-century Britain the dramatic proliferation of print gave rise to urgent efforts to historicize different media forms and to understand their unique powers. And so it was, Paula McDowell argues, that our modern concepts of oral culture and print culture began to crystallize, and authors and intellectuals drew on older theological notion of oral tradition to forge the modern secular notion of oral tradition that we know today. Drawing on an impressive array of sources including travel narratives, elocution manuals, theological writings, ballad collections, and legal records, McDowell re-creates a world in which everyone from fishwives to philosophers, clergymen to street hucksters, competed for space and audiences in taverns, marketplaces, and the street. She argues that the earliest positive efforts to theorize "oral tradition," and to depict popular oral culture as a culture (rather than a lack of culture), were prompted less by any protodemocratic impulse than by a profound discomfort with new cultures of reading, writing, and even speaking shaped by print. Challenging traditional models of oral versus literate societies and key assumptions about culture’s ties to the spoken and the written word, this landmark study reorients critical conversations across eighteenth-century studies, media and communications studies, the history of the book, and beyond.

Oral History Theory

Oral History Theory
Author: Lynn Abrams
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 287
Release: 2016-03-18
Genre: History
ISBN: 1317277988

Oral history is increasingly acknowledged as a key tool for anyone studying the history of the recent past, and Oral History Theory provides a comprehensive, systematic and accessible overview of this important field. Combining the study of theories drawn from disciplines ranging from linguistics to psychoanalysis with the observations of practitioners and including extensive examples of oral history practice from around the world, this book constitutes the first integrated discussion of oral history theory. Structured around key themes such as the peculiarities of oral history, the study of the self, subjectivity and intersubjectivity, memory, narrative, performance, power and trauma, each chapter provides a clear and user-friendly explanation of the various theoretical approaches, illustrating these with examples from the rich field of published oral history and making suggestions for the practicing oral historian. This second edition includes a new chapter on trauma and ethics, a preface discussing new developments in the field and updated glossary and further reading sections. Supplemented by a new companion website (www.routledge.com/cw/abrams) containing a comprehensive range of case studies, audio material and further resources, this book will be invaluable to experienced and novice oral historians, professionals, and students who are new to the discipline.

The Theory of Oral Composition

The Theory of Oral Composition
Author: John Miles Foley
Publisher: Indiana University Press
Total Pages: 198
Release: 1988-06-22
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 9780253204653

" . . . excellent book . . . " —The Classical Outlook " . . . brief and readable . . . There is good tonic in these pages for the serious student of oral tradition . . . a remarkable book." —Asian Folklore Studies "The bibliography is a boon for students and faculty at any level who are curious about the nature, composition, and performance of oral poetry." —Choice " . . . concise, evolutionary account . . . " —Religious Studies Review "As ever, Professor Foley's conscientious scholarship and sound judgements combine to make a further substantial contribution to the field." —E. C. Hawkesworth, School of Slavonic and East European Studies, University of London, The Slavonic Review "Foley is probably the only scholar who is in a position even to suggest the extent of what we should know to work in this area." —Speculum "Foley's survey stands as a fitting tribute to the achievements of Parry and Lord and as a sure guide to future productive work in the field." —Journal of American Folklore " . . . detailed and informative study . . . We are fortunate that John Foley chose to write this book." —Motif " . . . Theory of Oral Composition . . . detailed account written in an elegant style which could serve equally as a textbook for college and graduate students and as a reference tool for scholars already in the field." —Olifant "As an 'introductory history,' The Theory of Oral Composition accomplishes its purpose admirably. It has the capacity to arouse interest on the part of the uninitiated." —Anthropologica Presents the first history of the new field of oral-formulaic theory, which arose from the pioneering research of Milman Parry and Albert Lord on the Homeric poems.

Handbook of Oral History

Handbook of Oral History
Author: Thomas Lee Charlton
Publisher: Rowman Altamira
Total Pages: 650
Release: 2006
Genre: History
ISBN: 9780759102293

In recent decades, oral history has matured into an established field of critical importance to historians and social scientists alike. Handbook of Oral History captures the current state-of-the-art, identifies major strands of intellectual development, and predicts key directions for future growth in theory, research, and application.

History of Oral History

History of Oral History
Author: Leslie Roy Ballard
Publisher: Rowman Altamira
Total Pages: 327
Release: 2007-04-09
Genre: History
ISBN: 075911384X

Gathered here are parts I and II of the Handbook of Oral History, which set the benchmark for knowledge of the field. The eminent contributors discuss the history and methodologies of a field that once was the domain of history scholars who were responding to trends within the academy, but which has increasingly become democratized and widely used outside the realm of historical research. This handbook will be both a traveling guide and essential touchstone for anyone fascinated by this dynamic and expanding discipline.

The Oral History Manual

The Oral History Manual
Author: Barbara W. Sommer
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
Total Pages: 155
Release: 2018-07-05
Genre: History
ISBN: 1442270802

The Oral History Manualis designed to help anyone interested in doing oral history research to think like an oral historian. Recognizing that oral history is a research methodology, the authors define oral history and then discuss the methodology in the context of the oral history life cycle – the guiding steps that take a practitioner from idea through access/use. They examine how to articulate the purpose of an interview, determine legal and ethical parameters, identify narrators and interviewers, choose equipment, develop budgets and record-keeping systems, prepare for and record interviews, care for interview materials, and use the interview information. In this third edition, in addition to new information on methodology, memory, technology, and legal options incorporated into each chapter, a completely new chapter provides guidelines on how to analyze interview content for effective use of oral history interview information. The Oral History Manualprovides an updated and expanded road map and a solid introduction to oral history for all oral history practitioners, from students to community and public historians.

Oral History

Oral History
Author: Lee Smith
Publisher: Penguin
Total Pages: 247
Release: 2011-12-06
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 1101565616

"The best novel so far by a writer whose growth has been steady and sure . . . . [Oral History] tells the story of the Cantrell family and the odd curse that its members believe to have hung over them. It is a tale that begins in the late 19th century with Granny Younger, the midwife, and continues well into the 20th century through several generations of Cantrells; it is also a tale deeply rooted in the folk culture of the Appalachians, a tale that in the best tradition of folklore contains 'story upon story.'" -- The Washington Post Book World "A novel as dark, winding, complicated as the hill country itself. . . You could make comparisons to Faulkner and Carson McCullers, to The Sound and the Fury, As I Lay Dying, and Wuthering Heights. You could employ all those familiar ringing terms of praise: 'rare,' 'brilliant,' 'unforgettable.' But Lee Smith and Oral History make you wish all those phrases were fresh and new, that all those comparisons had never before been made. For this is a novel deserving of unique praise." -- The Village Voice "Deft and assured . . . She is clearly drunk on the language of Appalachia, on its stories and its people . . . . She is nothing less than masterly." -- The New York Times Book Review

How to Read an Oral Poem

How to Read an Oral Poem
Author: John Miles Foley
Publisher: University of Illinois Press
Total Pages: 284
Release: 2002
Genre: Literary Criticism
ISBN: 9780252070822

Drawing on many examples including an American slam poet, a Tibetan paper-singer, a South African praise-poet, and an ancient Greek bard (Homer) the author shows that although oral poetry predates writing it continues to be a vital culture-making and communications tool. Based on research on epics, folktales, lyrics, laments, charms, etc.--Back cover.

Doing Oral History

Doing Oral History
Author: Donald A. Ritchie
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
Total Pages: 369
Release: 2015
Genre: History
ISBN: 0199329338

Doing Oral History is considered the premier guidebook to oral history, used by professional oral historians, public historians, archivists, and genealogists as a core text in college courses and throughout the public history community. The recent development of digital audio and video recording technology has continued to alter the practice of oral history, making it even easier to produce and disseminate quality recordings. At the same time, digital technology has complicated the preservation of the recordings, past and present. This basic manual offers detailed advice for setting up an oral history project, conducting interviews and using oral history for research, making video recordings, preserving oral history collections in archives and libraries, and teaching and presenting oral history.

Envelopes of Sound

Envelopes of Sound
Author: Ronald J. Grele
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing USA
Total Pages: 312
Release: 1991-09-30
Genre: History
ISBN: 0313390185

What is it that oral historians do? Prior to the publication of Envelopes of Sound oral history was regarded as an archival practice and interviews were considered the repositories of data. Envelopes shows that the interview is a series of dialectical relationships embedded in language, social practice, and historical imagination. It merges theory and method through the analysis of the basic structures of the interview. It incorporates new thinking on the nature of narrative and conversation, and it covers new ground in examining fieldwork in a number of disciplines. While strongly theoretical, it also has direct application in conducting oral history interviews. Ronald Grele is the dean of oral history in the United States, and Envelopes of Sound is the volume by which others will continue to be judged. Its contributions to methods and to meaning are still the place to start a serious discussion, whether with scholars or with high school students interviewing their grandparents. Paul M. Buhle Director, Oral History of the American Left New York University Grele's early, groundbreaking book on oral history remains a classic. It continues to challenge the practitioner to be more self-conscious of and attentive to the nuances of the oral history interview. Sherna Berger Gluck Director, Oral History California State University, Long Beach What is it that oral historians do? Prior to the publication of Envelopes of Sound oral history was regarded as an archival practice and interviews were considered the repositories of data. Envelopes shows that the interview is a series of dialectical relationships embedded in language, social practice, and historical imagination. It calls upon oral historians to begin to step back, to think seriously about what it is they do, and to ask what kind of documentation it is that they produce and how they can make it better. This volume merges theory and method through the analysis of the basic structures of the interview. It incorporates new thinking on the nature of narrative and conversation, and it covers new ground in examining fieldwork in a number of disciplines. While strongly theoretical, it also has direct application in conducting oral history interviews. It moves from relatively easy and simple considerations to increasingly complex issues. Envelopes of Sound can be used by a variety of students in discplines ranging from history and sociology to anthropology and contemporary literature, and it can be used in a variety of ways to raise issues on a number of theoretical levels.