ABSTRACT
An epoch in the practice of history is coming to a close. For hundreds of years the printed word has been the dominant mode of communication for the historical profession, in the process shaping its basic assumptions and structures. Today, the printed word is being superseded by a diversity of communication forms with the greatest impetus coming from moving images. As a methodology rooted in multiple modes of communication, oral history can play a pivotal role in accelerating the historical profession’s comprehension of this radical shift in the nature of communication. In return, moving images can more fully express oral history’s reflexive dimension, which makes more explicit the human role in the creation of history. The relationship between moving images and oral history, always reciprocal, holds particular promise amidst the present revolution in communications.
