This week’s readings were from two very different authors and writing styles. Michael Frisch’s A Shared Authority: Essays on the Craft and Meaning of Oral and Public History and Studs Terkel’s Touch and Go: A Memoir both cover the topic of oral history. Both cover the topic thoroughly and effectively but with different styles. Studs Terkel took a more personal approach, while Michael Frisch read like a textbook. Through the differences on central theme emerges focusing on oral history and the audience it should and does reach. Public history and oral history are meant to tell a story and make it accessible to the public, and both authors discuss how they have experienced this throughout their careers.
Studs Terkel begins by randomly discussing events at the beginning of his life. The initial approach seems scattered and it took me awhile to understand his purpose and direction. Eventually around chapter five it became clear that Terkel’s intention was to show the lives of people. Through his work with oral history, Terkel strove to show what the subject felt was important, what the person thought was influential to the time and to their lives. Through this method amazing stories and information emerged that were influential to the future historians and to the people telling the story. The truly interesting aspect of oral history that emerges through Terkel’s work is the understanding of the need to be remembered. We all don’t want to be forgotten, we want our stories to have meaning and thus our lives. Terkel’s memoir shows this need and desire. Through the stories of his own life, come the stories of many.
A Shared Authority by Michael Frisch connects back to the work of Studs Terkel and then expands further. While Frisch’s writing style was harder to connect with, it still has its value. Frisch explores events and subjects throughout his career. He too discusses the importance of the audience and often goes back to the same subject as a previous read. The need for historians to work with the public and how it all plays out in this sphere is portrayed here. He explains how this relationship exists even within the field of oral history. I liked how in Frisch’s work we get to connect back to Terkel’s work through his work Hard Times. Frisch and Terkel come to the conclusion that oral history is important because it is the truth as known by those that lived it, even if some of that information is false, it still has value. Frisch offers a unique perspective of balance between history and oral history and their interconnectedness.
Overall, these two works combined offer a perspective on oral history that shows the value of even false information as long as it is in the correct historical framework. While Terkel’s may have been an easier read and entertainingly written, Frisch offers a different style on a similar message. Both books were good introductions into the field of oral history, even if one did take more concentration to read through.
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2 comments:
While Terkel's initial chapters seemed scattered, it was written in a way that made it seem he was being interviewed by someone. While I read these chapters and tried to keep up with his stream of conscience, I pretended I was asking him questions about his life. Where did you grow up? Who were your parents, siblings, wife? What made you decide to become an oral historian? I also found it interesting how he was able to incorporate his life experiences into how he practiced and became so successful at oral history.
As far as Frisch goes, his writing and overall theme reminded me a lot about Rosenzweig and Thelen's argument of shared authority. Like their book, Frisch expresses the importance of the academic, or in this case the interviewer, should have toward the interviewee and other amateur historians. While not as heart-warming and conversational as Terkel, I agree with you that Frisch is still an important professional historian to consider and refer to when talking about oral history.
It is surprising that two books on a similar subject could be delivered in such contrasting styles. While it did take awhile for me to figure out what is going on with Terkel, once I did I really connected to his writings. Considerably less engaging was Frisch’s book, I like the textbook analogy. It delivered interesting information but did so in a rather dry, bland manner. I also mentioned in my blog that Terkel emphasized the desire to be remembered. Only by living on in memory can someone be immortal.
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