ORAL HISTORY

- In the past, the people passed down history through word of mouth.
- They make use of stories, songs, legends, myths, and fairytales to preserve their history.
- Oral history in the modern form of audio recordings originated in the work of Allan
Nevins at the University of Columbia in the USA. He started recording the memories of persons
significant in American Life in 1948.
- Also, the pioneer of oral history in England, George Ewart Evans, collected memories
of life and work in Suffolk Villages, where the old survivors were basically walking books.
These were first published in “Ask the Fellows Who Cut the Hay” in 1956.
EXAMPLES of oral history in the Philippines:
- “Forgotten Heroes: Japan’s Imprisonment of American Civilians in the Philippines” by
Michael Onorato,
- “Kwentong Bayan: Noong Panahon ng Hapon: Everyday Life in a Time of War” by
Thelma Kintanar and company.

ELEMENTS OF ORAL HISTORY

Alessandro Portelli identifies six elements that mark out oral history as intrinsically
different or peculiar from other historical processes.
ORALITY
Oral history, it is spoken. It is uttered by the mouth. Orality is the quality of being spoken or
verbally communicated. How well you delivered the words to the listeners.
NARRATIVE
Oral history tells a story. It is a report of related events presented to listeners, in words arranged
in a logical sequence.
PERFORMANCE
Since oral history is spoken, the way you speak, the tone, intonation can change the way the
listeners understand the content of what you are telling. For instance, when you tell a story and
you started in a very low and deep voice, children or the listeners would assume that the story is
about something scary or spooky or a mystery.
SUBJECTIVITY
Oral history may be biased. This is possible because of the nature of transmission itself. Oral
transmission can be full of exaggeration, creativity and sometimes the informant may talk only
about the things they want you to know.
MEMORIES
Depending on how well the informant remembers what happened during the time.
MUTABILITY
Oral history are most of the time passed down from person to person. It can be altered or have
the tendency to change over time, may be because the person misheard a word, or he/she may
have different understanding of the story.