Migration, Heritage and Lifestyle
Time: 2025-09-16 14:30 - 16:30
Location: Seminar room at Auditorium Maximum
Chairman: James Deutsch
Events within this Session
Hunting and Medicine: Recentring Oral History in Zooarchaeology in Kafue Flats and Bangweulu Swamps, Zambia.
Type: session | Language: English
Time: 14:30 - 16:30
Abstract
Medicines were used in hunting of big fauna as well as for safety and successful hunting. The hunter’s choice of medicines to be used depended on the hunter and the behavioral attributes the animals’ species being hunted, indicating that the hunters possessed a vast knowledge of the area’s ecology biology of these animals. This study explores the medicine that were used for hunting by the prehistoric people in Zambia. This study will use oral history to find out the indigenous methods that were used in hunting animals by the local people. 25 traditional knowledge custodians will be purposively selected to be interviewed, and the data will be analysed thematically. The study concludes that Indigenous hunting strategies of the prehistoric communities will be useful to contribute to proposals for management plans regulating hunting in Zambia as over poaching is a current threat. Keywords: Oral history, Zoo archaeology, hunting, indigenous medicine, Zambia.
Speakers
The Development of Oral History in China: The Rise of Locality and the Challenges of Globality
Type: session | Language: English
Time: 14:30 - 16:30
Abstract
Since the 1980s, the concept of modern oral history has gradually been introduced to China. The new academic discipline and methodology, which originated from the West, have intersected and merged with China’s traditional historical perspectives. It began with universities. As early as the early 1990s, courses on oral history were offered at universities. Following this, classic books on oral history theory and practice, written by oral historians from Europe and the United States, were gradually translated into Chinese. However, until the early 21st century, it was difficult to find large-scale oral history practices and academic activities in China in the available resources. But shortly thereafter, With the increasing emphasis scholars place on the study of contemporary history and public history, along with the development of internet information sharing and the maturation and spread of modern audio-visual technologies, the development of oral history in China has gradually accelerated. This accelerated development is reflected in two aspects: first, there has been a continuous increase in articles and books on oral history as a topic or main content, and even television programs featuring oral history themes have appeared. Most of their topics are local, focusing on China and its people. Some are personal histories, such as oral history biographies of notable figures, while others are histories of groups and communities, such as World War II veterans, ethnic minority communities, or eyewitnesses to certain historical events. These resources have showcased to the public the diversity, value, and potential of oral history. Second, related academic organizations, professional institutions, and social groups have been established. Chinese oral historians have begun to organize their own oral history conferences and actively seek to establish connections with the international academic community. During this period, more systematic reflections and research began to emerge: What is the relationship between the “modern” oral history and traditional Chinese historiography? What are the advantages of oral history? What are the methods of oral history? How should oral history materials and traditional historical sources be studied together? At the same time, oral history in China’s academic circles is also facing criticism. The biggest criticism is the issue of the authenticity of oral history. Some scholars believe that, compared to traditional written historical sources, oral history has lower authenticity and cannot be used as serious historical material. As a result, research findings based on oral historical materials are often questioned. However, oral history has continued to develop. More people believe that oral history is an important tool and source for us to gain knowledge about more recent history, even if some do not acknowledge it as the best. In the first two decades of the 21st century, oral history has undergone a preliminary localization process in China, establishing an academic field, educational resource, and practice achievements of considerable scale. In contrast to the relatively rapid development of oral history in China, there is limited international dissemination of oral history studies from China and relatively little understanding within the international oral history community. The factors leading to this situation include, on one hand, differences in language and culture background, and on the other hand, the lack of international scale in the research topics and content of Chinese scholars, resulting in fewer opportunities for sharing and collaboration. The development of oral history in China requires more international exchange and cooperation, with more Chinese scholars participating in international conferences and collaborating with more international scholars. Conversely, this can also have a positive impact on international oral history.
Speakers
Will My Interview Help?: Use of Oral History in Partition Studies
Type: session | Language: English
Time: 14:30 - 16:30
Abstract
The epic of King Gesar of Ling is an UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage, whose various rendition and retellings can be found among Tibetans, Mongolians, Tus, Chinese, Bhutanes, Ladakhi, and many other ethnic communities. Often considered as the longest, and the last living epic of the world, with more than one million verses, King Gesar epic is both interesting and problematic to grasp and study . This prosimetrical epic is performed through a mixture of chants, stories, dance and songs; by inspired or possessed bards called ‘babs sgrung’. Therefore, archiving Gesar epic and the performances associated with it is a laborious and difficult project. Additionally, it also presents the question of whether a living tradition can be saved by archiving it. This paper will attempt to study the role and nature of bards in modern world, in preserving this oral tradition through storytelling and performances. Furthermore, it will delve into some versions of Gesar epic from the Himalayan regions, for example the Kesar Saga- the Ladakhi version of King Gesar Epic and Ge Sar in Bhutan to understand the infusion of local customs, existing traditions, non-Buddhist icons and motifs into the story and the evolution and sanctification of Gesar among these cultures.
Speakers
Oral History and the History of Sport in Africa: A Historiographical Review
Type: session | Language: English
Time: 14:30 - 16:30
Abstract
The aim of this paper is to present and discuss a first proposal for a historiographical review of the history of sport in Africa employing oral history. Since its emergence in the 1940s in the USA, Oral History has expanded vigorously in various countries, especially since the 1990s/2000s, when a boom was noticed, with projects and articles on the subject proliferating. However, when we look at several African countries, we realize that Oral History is still underdeveloped, despite the fact that several of them have a strong oral culture. Although still little explored, we still believe that oral testimonies take on greater importance in societies that have experienced processes of change and social disintegration. It should also be mentioned that when we turn to sports studies, we notice a relatively timid presence of research that mobilizes oral history, especially within the field of History. It is important to note that sports studies have been consolidated in historiographical practice even more recently than oral history. Despite this, in recent years we have noticed a certain development of studies, which can be seen in the presence of debates at congresses, journals and dissertations and theses. Against this backdrop, this paper proposes a historiographical analysis of research into sport in Portuguese-speaking African countries that mobilizes oral history from some perspective. From this perspective, this paper proposes a historiographical analysis of research on sport in Portuguese-speaking African countries that uses oral history from some perspective. As a practical approach, we will focus on the main international journals that deal with the themes of the three intersecting fields: History of Sport, African History and Oral History. Examples include the International Journal of History of Sport; Cadernos de Estudos Africanos; Oral History Journal.
Speakers
Moveable Feasts: Exploring Memories of Food, Migration and Glasgow (1960-1995)
Type: session | Language: English
Time: 14:30 - 16:30
Abstract
According to the city’s slogan ‘People make Glasgow’. As an ever evolving, multicultural city Glasgow has long been the epicentre of Scottish migration as both Scotland’s largest city and predominate port of entry. Additionally, Glasgow is the often cited as the ‘birthplace’ of Britain’s favourite takeaway dish, the Chicken Tikka Masala, highlighting its ability to celebrate that diversity. This paper intends to contribute a new way of understanding both the history of migration and of social and cultural acculturation using Glasgow’s South Asian migrant community from the 1960s through the 1990s as a case study. Utilising oral history testimonies from the both migrant and Glasgow-born residents, this paper demonstrates how foodways can be used to both express and understand identity during a period of considerable change. Participants discuss the ways in which food and culinary cultural practises were used to maintain links to their heritage during the process of migration and settlement in Glasgow. They also recall memories of Glasgow’s changing social and cultural landscape associated with the acculturation of a migrant community from the Commonwealth at a time when political discourse around such communities was fraught with contradictions. Racialised concepts of Commonwealth migrants deemed ‘(un)deserving’ of maintaining citizenship rights are explored here in relation to archival material from the political and public discourse of the period alongside participants personal memories. This allows this paper to offer new insights into how memory, and both localised and national identity formation, can be explored in historic contexts.