ABSTRACT
When Ronald Blythe was undertaking the research for his book Akenfield, he asked one of the village men about the singing that accompanied the scything of the corn: ‘What was the song Davie?’ The man answered: ‘Never you mind the song, it was the singing that counted.’1 This chapter concerns this theme of performance by the narrator in the oral history interview. It starts from the assumption that an oral history narrative is first and foremost a performance of words, a way of speaking separated from ordinary speech, a speech act performed for an audience in a particular context. With the shift from what is said to how it is said, there has arisen a general
acceptance that oral history is a performance by a narrator for an audience. This means that we ought to be conscious of the performance shapes and forms that oral narratives assume. Furthermore, we should acknowledge that any narrative cannot be separated from its form – from its performance. Oral history is the performance of a speech act. This requires that as well as analysing its content, we might also want to consider its performance qualities. The singing – or the performance – is as important as the song. Orality or oracy – skilled orality – should be on the radar of the oral historian.2
