Oral History is a field of study and a research method based on the systematic gathering, preservation and interpretation of people’s voices and memories of past events. It also can be a powerful tool to bring multi-perspectivity to understanding the past. Especially when competing versions of what happened exist, Oral History can help make meaning of the past and transform understandings of the conflict in the present.
We engage with the key concepts that help us learn what oral history is, the relevance of oral sources to historical thinking, and how oral history fits within the larger framework of historical research. We explore how Oral History might be particularly significant to addressing a contested historical context, and explore the relationship between facts, perspectives, and the power of multi-perspectivity. We also learn how our understanding of conflict can deepen that of historical conflict and conflict dynamics.
