“York Memories”: oral history and regional theatre

Heinrich, A. (2010) “York Memories”: oral history and regional theatre. In: Leclercq, N., Rossion, L. and Jones, A. (eds.) Capturing the Essence of Performance: The Challenges of Intangible Heritage. Peter Lang, pp. 321-330. ISBN 9789052016375

Abstract

The article takes the “York Oral History Project” and two of their publications as an example to illustrate the difficulties and the possibilities connected with oral history. <p> After discussing these (and other similar) publications, which present extracts from transcripts of interviews but do not give any contextual information about either the interviewees, the theatres and cinemas in question or, more widely, the socio-economic situation in York during the first half of the twentieth century, the paper contextualises my own approach and locates these publications in wider debates about oral history. For a considerable time issues such as those concerning selective memory and reliability seemed to discard oral history. More recently, however, and in connection with New Historicism, oral history seems to have experienced a revival. I relate to these debates and argue for the crucial importance of oral history for academic research, and in particular in theatre studies. </p>

• Item Type: Book Sections
• Additional Information: <br>Parallel French title: Capter l'essence du spectacle</br> International Association of Libraries and Museums of the Performing Art (27th Congress: Glasgow, 25-29 August 2008)
• Status: Published
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: Heinrich, Professor Anselm
• Authors: Heinrich, A.
• Subjects: P Language and Literature > PN Literature (General) > PN2000 Dramatic representation. The Theater; Z Bibliography. Library Science. Information Resources > Z719 Libraries (General)
• College/School: College of Arts & Humanities > School of Culture and Creative Arts > Theatre Film and TV Studies
• Publisher: Peter Lang
• ISBN: 9789052016375