On the Uses and Abuses of Oral History as a Method of Investigating Recent History
On the Uses and Abuses of Oral History as a Method of Investigating Recent History

Summary/Abstract: This article offers an overview of the advantages, uses, and abuses of oral history as a method of historical investigation, by focusing on major traumatic events, such as the Holocaust. It argues that, in spite of some of its shortcomings, oral history has become an important and widespread method of historical investigation that gathers valuable primary sources – useful for reconstructing historical events, but especially for the meanings revealed even in the case of erroneous recollections and what they tell about the interviewees and their interests. Oral history seems to be especially useful in cases of marginalized and under-represented groups and cases of mass violence that leave no, very few, or distorted documents.

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