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Oral HistoryReview25/1-2(Summer/Fall
1998): 113-117
A ShortReflection
on TeachingMemoir
andOralHistory
by SharonO'Brien
It mightseem thatmemoirand oral history,
althoughboth
formsoflifenarrative,
do nothavemuchin common.One textis
theotheroral;onedemandsan individual
whilein
written,
author,
theother"authorship"
existsin theinterplay
betweeninterviewer
and storyteller;
one concernstheself,whiletheothermovesoutstrivesto captureanother'svoice and
ward,as theoralhistorian
on
and
one
is a shapednarrative,
a close cousinto
story tape
page;
theotherseemingly
closerto factand truth
as
fiction,
(troubling
thoseconceptsare)as thewords"transcript"
and"archive"
suggest.
As a teacherof bothcreativewriting
andAmericanStudies,
I
thatthetwogenresare close relahowever, havelongthought
tives.Bothareformsofnarrative
in whichordinary
peopleclaim
theauthority
to telltheirown stories;bothare formstingedby
as well as memory(sincetheoralhistory
narrative,
imagination
likememoir,is shapedby selectionand omission,as well as by
the lengthof the interviewand the interaction
betweeninterviewerandstoryteller).
Andmemoir,
likeoralhistory,
arisesfrom
theinterconnection
or
oftwo moresensibilities,
sincememoirists
writeofrelationship
to others,
as wellas totheselfin
commonly
thepast.Bothareconcerned
withmemory,
and
andstory,
history,
bothchallengetimebyretrieving
from
of
the
the
flood
something
itforthefuture.
pastandpreserving
In thespringof 1996,alongwithSusan Rose, a sociologist,
and ChuckBarone,an economist,
I team-taught
an experimental
one-semester
course in multiculturalism
and diversitycalled
"AmericanMosaic" at DickinsonCollege.The overarching
proof
the
course
was
a
of
Steelton,
ject
community
study
Pennsylvain thegreater
area.(The
nia,a multiethnic
community
Harrisburg
SharonO'Brienis JohnHope CaldwellProfessor
ofAmericanCulturesat DickinsonColshe is completing
a memoir,"'A CertainSlantof Light':Reflections
on
lege. Currently
DepressioninAmerica."
114
A ShortReflection
on TeachingMemoirandOralHistory
115
116
At thesametime,thisauthordevelopedgreatersensitivity
as an
of retiredsteelworkers,
interviewer
ask
the
to
learning
questions
thatallowedthemto speakintheirownvoices.
thatmostdramatically
combinesmemPerhapsthenarrative
oirandoralhistory
is ArtSpiegelman'sMaus.4 Spiegelman'srenditionof his father'sexperiencein theHolocaustis based upon
thattheauthorconductedwithhis father
overa
tapedinterviews
whichcan be heardon theCD-ROM
periodofyears(interviews
versionofMaus). In thetext,Spiegelmaninterweaves
hisfather's
the
with
of
the
conflicted
of
father
and son
story
past
relationship
in thepresent,includingseveralscenesof theson interviewing
the father.Spiegelmanis bluntlyhonestabout Art's frequent
interviewer
himselfas thesingle-minded
insensitivity,
portraying
who at timesignoresthewishesofthesubjectin orderto getthe
he keepsurgingthefatherwho at
story.("Back to Auschwitz,"
3Ben Hamper,
Rivethead:TalesfromtheAssembly
Line(NewYork:WarnerBooks,1991).
4ArtSpiegelman,
Maus I: A Survivor'sTale: MyFatherBleedsHistory(NewYork:Pan-
theon,
1991).
A ShortReflection
on TeachingMemoirandOralHistory
117
timeswantsto talkaboutanything
else.) Assigningthismemoir
in thecontextofdoingoralhistory
can keepstudents
andfaculty
sensitive
to themoralandethicalissuesinvolvedin interviewing.
I usedMaus to encourage
In thecontextofteachingmemoir,
I gave a freeto broadentheirempathyas writers.
my students
I
in
which
asked
students
to
take
on thevoice
writing
assignment
in theirmemoir.In reof a charactertheywere representing
a memoircentering
on her
sponse,one student-whowas writing
an
uncle-came up withherfinest
schizophrenic
pieceofwriting,
fromheruncle's pointof view that
accountof a hallucination
showedherabilityto crosstheboundary
betweenselfandother:
I beginto movearoundtheroom,trying
to avoidthefallingdarkness.I runintothenextroomhopingthedarknesswilldrainaway,
like waterdoes in theshower.I can see it comingafterme. The
darknessis creepingon the floorlike a giantamoeba. I throw
thingsat it to stopit fromgrabbingmyfeet.Stayawayfrommy
feet!I am standing
in thefarcornerof thebedroom,watching
the
darknesscreeptowardme.
hadwritten
a memoirthat
By theendofthecourse,everystudent
combinedemotionaldepthwithsomelevel of aestheticcontrol;
in turn,thememoirworkenrichedtheoral history
and commuof
the
course.
The
forms
of interplay
nitystudycomponent
betweenmemoirand oralhistory
are noteasy to measureobjecbutmycolleaguesandI believetheywereprofound.
As the
tively,
students
became
better
listeners
to
the
of
voices
others,
gradually
theylearnedhow to listento theirown; as theyrecognizedthat
othershad storiesto tell,theyrealizedthattheydid,as well.The
questionstheywereaskingof otherstheybeganto ask of themselves;theanswerstheywerehearingcausedthemtolookdeeper
intotheirownlives;theempathy
theyweregainingfortheirsubin memoir,
characters
jects aidedthemin creating
justas theemin
memoir
theconnection
pathytheygained writing
strengthened
felt
with
the
residents
of
Steelton.
Both
forms
ofstorytelling,
they
memoirandoralhistory,
enrichanddeepeneachother,
andI hope
thatfacultyfroma varietyof disciplinesand programs-American studies,English,creativewriting,
AfricanAmerican
history,
andethnicstudies,women'sstudies-willfindwaystojuxtapose
thesegenresin theirteaching.