Go to National Library of Australia Home PageNational Library of Australia Online

SEARCH:

Voices and Memory: Australian Oral History

Saturday 8 March 1997
National Library of Australia, Parkes Place, Canberra

[Entertainer Jenny Howard, recorded 1982]

Some papers for the Voices and Memory seminar will appear at the National Library of Australia's Online Seminars. Barry York, a speaker at the seminar and, at the time, a Harold White Fellow at the National Library, wrote a review of the seminar for the May 1997 issue of National Library of Australia News.

It was 40 years ago that the National Library's association with Australian oral history began. In March 1957, Hazel de Berg made her first field recording with Dame Mary Gilmore in Sydney. Since that time, the National Library has become Australia's leading centre for Oral History. From interviews with eminent Australians in the fields of politics, government, public administration, law, science, religion, business and labour history, journalism and the arts, to the development of strong collections in folklore, the National Library's oral history program collects personal insights, observations and details of experience which have not been recorded elsewhere. Increasingly the importance of oral histories to providing a richer texture in the fabric of our heritage and history is recognised. The National Library of Australia holds the largest collection in the Southern Hemisphere, a vast national resource of voices and memories.

The seminar Voices and Memory: Australian Oral History was the first seminar at the National Library devoted entirely to oral history. As such, the seminar showcased many of the Library's current oral history projects, and focused on primary themes and future directions of oral history. Speakers included the Library's oral history manager, Mark Cranfield; interviewers for some recent Library oral history projects, including Ragbir Bhathal, Diana Giese, Barry York, Michelle Potter, Peter Read and Jackie Huggins; media personalities Daniel Connell and Robin Hughes.

Pivotal to the seminar was how oral history differed to other forms of historical record, a theme introduced by Michelle Potter, performing arts and dance historian. Scientist Ragbir Bhathal - author of the National Library of Australia publication Australian Astronomers that is based on interviews he conducted with astronomers - is currently working on recording the experiences of women scientists. He highlighted the importance of oral history in creating a more complete picture of scientists, who rarely publish memoirs. Oral recordings enable scientists to tell their stories in their own words, and to place their discoveries and research in a broader context.

Daniel Connell gave numerous examples of oral history's ability to 'individualise history', and Barry York referred to oral history as being indispensable to the historian's goal of 'capturing the full human story and giving it meaning'. Diana Giese argued that oral history provides a space in which both the interviewer and informant can explore the ways people make sense of their lives. Both Diana Giese and Barry York have a considerable background in interviewing people who settled in Australia as migrants from other countries, and have completed significant oral history projects with these groups for the Library. The National Library has published Giese's Beyond Chinatown: Changing Perspectives on the Top End Chinese Experience

Speakers differed in view about interviewing techniques and methodologies. Some were in favour of a highly structured interview; others preferred to allow interviewing subjects to speak on topics they preferred; others still chose an approach which was 'loosely structured'. All speakers emphasised the need for good interviewing techniques and preparation. As Robin Hughes mentioned, the ability to listen closely to subjects and to draw out their stories so that the subject, rather than the interviewer is the focus of the material, is crucial to a successful interview.

The future of oral history also merited considerable discussion. The 'Seven Years On' project, conducted by Jackie Huggins and Peter Read, involves prominent young Aboriginals talking about their lives and predicting their future. After seven years, Peter and Jackie will re-interview their subjects. Preservation issues, and future digital technologies were discussed in tours of the Oral History and Sound Preservation sections of the National Library. Barry York described his technique of interviewing for the future: of asking himself whether the interview would be regarded as worthwhile 50 years hence.

Robin Hughes, director of the film series Australian Biography, in which well-known Australians talk about their lives, spoke about the importance of film in highlighting 'the landscape of the face'. She explained how film can capture nuances which audio recordings could not. Like Daniel Connell, Robin echoed the need for oral history and film to be regarded as 'complementary' sources of history, rather than competing sources.

In exploring why oral history matters, Mark Cranfield pointed out that while oral history interviews do not constitute legal depositions nor necessarily verified historical evidence, they can offer information not available in other formats. For example, interviews which take a discursive-dialogue approach can potentiate the emergence of personality as well as fact. He proposed that there are strong connections between voice, ear and mind, and that this 'auditory intelligence' is very deep-seated in humans. This philosophy provided affirmation of the title of the seminar, Voices and Memory.

Speakers

  • Mark Cranfield / Oral History: Why Does it Matter?
  • Ragbir Bhathal / Astronomers and Women Scientists
  • Diana Giese / Post-war Chinese Australians Oral History Project
  • Barry York / Oral History and Ethnic History
  • Michelle Potter / Oral History: How it is Different
  • Peter Read and Jackie Huggins / Seven Years On: Aboriginal Oral History
  • Daniel Connell / Oral History - A Complementary Source not a Competing Source
  • Robin Hughes / Asking Questions: The Making of the Archival Collection and Television Series Australian Biography and the Book Australian Lives.

Return to NLA Seminars | Past Seminars | Online Seminars

About This Site | Copyright | Privacy | Accessibility | Site Map | Site Search | Content A-Z | Contact Us