What does ‘oral history’ entail, and what use can it be to the agendas of anthropologists, or historians or archaeologists?

The idea of the exclusion of important narratives is a common theme amongst many of the historians involved in the discussion. The omission of such narratives would only stand to present an unfinished version of history from which one cannot grasp the lessons history intends to teach. Catherine Emerson would be the first to

Throughout time, there will continue to be a considerable divorce between academic and popular historians. As Margaret Conrad argues, popular historians have established the tension, by recreating “historical films without the involvement of trained historians”. This underscores the troubling gulf that sometimes separates public academics approaches to the past. Academic historians have been “too long focused” on professionalism, and discarded “generating” a “dialogue” (Conrad) with their contextual audiences. The substantial dissolution between academic and popular historians is evident in a range of sources, essentially from Michelle Arrows to Herodotus and Thucydides to Bury.

Imagine you have just completed a trip through the early kingdoms and city-states of East, Central, and South Africa. Your family and friends ask you about the trip. Your task is to give them an oral history of your experience. You may choose to write your account, record it, or make a video. Remember, your family and friends will share your story and pass it on to future generations, like oral historians in Africa. Make it fascinating! No one wants to hear a boring story.

According to Nelson oral tradition and history are important to native communities because it is the primary pedagogical tool for Indian communities around the country (Nelson Pg98). Before colonization oral stories were the main way of exchanging information and teaching future generations of the natives for centuries. They shared stories of how to gather plants, what and what not to eat, how to plant certain things and how and when to perform certain ceremonies. There were also profane and funny stories which included gossip.

Herodotus and Einhard write history in two completely different styles. Einhard’s style is about giving specific details, while Herodotus’s style is about giving his own personal opinions and information that he has from secondary sources. The biggest effect of the difference amongst the two historian’s style of writing is the fact that Einhard’s history of Charlemagne’s life gives information that makes it seem as if the events were realistic, while some of the events that Herodotus talks about seem conjured.

In this accessible writing, Thomas R. Martin makes a comparison of the writings of Sima Qian in historical China and those of Herodotus of ancient Greek. Primarily, the main theme of the author is to show a glimpse of the symbols of early history writing. Martin shows the related struggles that each contended with in the preparation of the historical accounts. Furthermore, it is also indicated that the two writing legends played a significant role in inventing modern notions of historical writing and the occupation of an historian. In light of this, the paper will make an analysis of the early life of two ancient writers who shaped the history of writing.

History is the totality of all past human events, and historiography is the written record of what is known about our lives and societies. In the recent past, history lessons were meant to convey a certain patriotism or to turn an immigrant into a “true American,” but today too many historians are using historical analysis for political purposes. This probably dates to the tumultuous times of the 1960s. Gordon Wood offers a prescription for the proper use of history. Shunning the ideologues of today, he believes historians should “seek to study past events not to make trans-historical generalizations about human behavior but to understand those events as they actually were, in all their peculiar contexts and circumstances.”

Oral tradition is important because it molds Native American culture and offers listeners a chance to go back in time. First, oral tradition is the foundation of Native American tribes’ culture and values. For example, “No Moccasins” teaches the value of courage and humility. As discussed in the introduction to this tale, some modern Native Americans do not have access to common means of communication such as radios or televisions. This means that lessons had to be learned from within the community. Since Native Americans did not develop their own written language, the retelling of old stories is a great way to achieve this. Next, oral tradition presents people with an opportunity to experience a different time period. This is particularly true of origin myths. In origin myths listeners can travel to a timer before anyone existed. Stories told orally give this opportunity to anyone who can listen. It is necessary for people, especially for those in a tribe, to understand their own

Historiography, better known as the study of historical writing or the writing of history, is exactly what Cape emphasizes with this article. He has a long, running list of sources that he uses, but a majority of them are an interpretation of some kind. For example, instead of directly sourcing Cicero’s De Oratore, Cape cites “The Structure of De Oratore” from Michel and Verdière instead. By studying the concrete source, especially from ancient times, and the interpretations years after, an author can come to his or her own conclusion and clarification. Because of the time lapse between modern and ancient, primary research is almost always nonexistent, meanwhile secondary research is typically the go-to for written history. Hence, authors must use interpretations and

Imperialist education destroyed key aspects of African storytelling culture during colonialist attempts to replace African traditions with European customs. Before the invention of writing and even after, history was told orally. In Mali, griots were the professional historians who told the history of a tribe or important lineage. They passed on stories deeply rooted in traditions, customs, and the past. (Clark 253) In many cases, where griots did not exist, it was simply the responsibility of elders to recount their wisdoms and the tribe's history to the children (Clark 261). This tradition created a fluid account of antiquity as griots could only rely on their memories to describe information. Their stories also include cultural explanations of natural

History is in many ways a pool of gray. It is in this realm of ambiguity the historian can be found in her natural habitat. Of course a creature who lives in a world of gray would herself have a rather ambiguous role. Historians have a duty to the past but must live in the present. This places them in a predicament that has plagued the discipline for at least the last century — the conflict between presentism and ‘pure scholarship’. The historian must reconcile her obligation to be fair to the peoples of the past in presenting and studying their story with her desire to be of service to her contemporaries. The primary role of the historian is to inform the present of the past, both of the highs and the lows, the ugly and the beautiful, the

Herodotus, known as the "Father of History", was born in 484 BC in Halicarnassus, Asia Minor, which at that time was under Persian occupation. He wrote the play "Histories" around 440-430 BC, trying to discover the real causes of Greco-Persian wars, which ended in 450 BC The method of Herodotus a novelty and

Imagine being able to tell stories for generations to come without ever having to write down a single word. Oral tradition is used to pass stories down from generation to generation through different forms of communication without any writing system. Oral tradition stories are told by word of mouth, riddles, storytelling, and songs. It cannot be changed although the narrator might embellish it. Oral tradition is how Africans perceived the past. The significance of oral Tradition is due to the stories holding so much information and knowledge. Oral tradition contributed to understanding pre-colonial history because the pre-colonial Africa was influenced by two major movements which are the expansion of islam and the dispersion of the bantu. Oral tradition gave us the perspective as to why the expansion and dispersion took place. Oral tradition has its strengths and weaknesses. A strength of oral tradition is that it is being told from word of mouth and more people will listen to a good storyteller than to go read a book about the history. However, a weakness of oral tradition is that many of the stories get forgotten, left out, or embellished. With each re-telling the story gets further and further away from the original. Oral tradition is a primary way of conveying culture and is a way of life in African history.

Though it is known that the history of storytelling is quite ancient, stories still play a crucial part of our societies and cultures. Its influence is in almost every aspect of human life whether it be movies, books, music, news, religion, or art. Stories are what define us and our morals, our dreams, our prejudices, and our desires. Typically, oral stories are handed down generation to generation. It is not known who or when the first story was told, much less what the first story was (History).

Oral history that provides deep reflections of certain incidences or events analyzing relevant aspects such as the pros and cons, effects and problems.