Oral History Positions in Historical Methodology
In the study of history, oral history is actually one technique or method of collecting historical data, but it is sourced from oral information, not written sources. Approaches / techniques for collecting historical data by word of mouth are relatively new for studies of modern history, but in fact traditional historiography is sourced from oral traditions. Basically the techniques / methods of oral history are not different from the techniques / methods of history that explore the sources of written history with internal and external criticism.
Oral history technique / method is a development and refinement of the research of written historical sources, such as documents and official records of historical events that can complement the writing of history with nuances of historical events that cannot be completely displayed by written data.
Oral history is on the one hand as a method (process) but on the other hand as a product (result) in the form of written data, because it has been transcribed or historical monologies such as biographies.
Historical reconstructions are obtained through the process of rearranging historical facts as actual actuality into written or compiled history, which we have always known as historiography. If conventional techniques express historical actuality through written sources, in oral history historical actuality is obtained from oral sources by reviving the memories of historical agents.
The process of cultivating oral history as applies in the cultivation of history for the study of modern history, namely using a theoretical framework and a method of critical history with two stages. First, the analysis phase of evidence, looking for evidence from oral sources to compile the facts. Second, the stage of synthesis of facts in the reconstruction of history in the form of writing written history.
Oral history is needed not only for people who do not have the habit of recording written sources, but also very necessary for the preparation of contemporary history as has been said above, especially after World War II and the revolutionary period.
Especially for the reconstruction of contemporary Indonesian history, the use of oral historical techniques is very important. Because the perpetrators of history are still alive, so they can complement the treasures of historical sources for writing history.
In addition, oral history can also be used for various types of historical writing such as political history, economic history, cultural history, social history including local history writing and national history. Methodologically there is a limitation of the oral history method that is not being able to explore historical sources for long periods of time. Therefore the most appropriate use of oral history in the range of time close to us, because the perpetrators of history are still alive, and oral history is only able to express the experiences of someone who is very individual.
Despite these limitations, oral history has advantages that cannot be obtained from written documents.
Oral history can capture certain themes that emerge from history that cannot be revealed by written documents. Oral history is more populist, so that it can achieve sociocultural life in the lower classes of society in conditions of Indonesian people who are not accustomed to written culture, while written sources are also still scarce, so the use of oral history for the reconstruction of social history becomes very important. Especially with the decline in historical actors because of the limited human age and incomplete reconstruction of Indonesia's national or national history.
In revealing oral historical sources, procedures and theoretical / methodological frameworks of historical research are used with evidence and synthesis processes including source criticism.
Thus there are several things that need to be considered in the research process using the oral history method.
a. For oral historical sources, critical selection is needed in order to obtain information that can be justified. For this reason, it is necessary to first examine the personal condition and mentality of the source, perhaps weak memory or personal bragging, as well as paying attention to the age of the separator adjusted to the timeframe of the topic in question.
b. Researcher's preparation of the topic to be researched, by conducting a complete and comprehensive literature review, outlines the problem to be worked on. After that make interview guidelines that are tailored to the problem to be studied.
c. Technical interview tools include roles needed for oral history interviews, among others; tape recorder, tapes, stationery, notebooks and also other equipment such as cameras, films, batteries and others.
d. Field preparation needs to be considered carefully, because initial observations must be prepared to find out the condition of the location to fit the interview topic.
Then contact the source (separator) to determine the interview time and place of the interview, including the preparation of permission from the authorities if necessary.
Other things that are needed include the focus of the interview, the knowledge of written materials and the use of language, the attitude of the interviewer and the environment that is full of intimacy, sympathy and attention to what is said. In the oral history process it gives more opportunity for the narrator to talk and never interrupts the conversation.
No matter how tempting the promise of oral history is, in practice it turns out that this method cannot be realized just like that. Oral history turned out to be far more difficult than imagined by his admirers. A number of oral history research activities have been tried in Indonesia, many of which failed, some stopped in the middle of the road, some produced recordings of interviews which were then covered in dust because they were not stored in a good filing system and were not packaged to be used by the wider community, some ended with the researcher was too confused to be able to write anything about the results of their interview, and several were published with dubious quality.