</color>From:  
<color><param>0000,0000,8000</param>Gretchen Walsh, Boston
University

</color>        <<gwalsh@bu.edu><bold>



</bold>I'm always glad, if a little chagrinned, to have my biases
pointed out to me. A product of my place and time, not to
mention my profession, I do tend to rely on the written word,
and while I don't trust it blindly, I find it easier to verify,
if only by consulting other written records.


And indeed I suffer from diminishing faculty of memory--not only
because of the passage of time, but quite likely because of my
dependence on written records. (Those sticky yellow notes being
a truly life-saving invention!)


I did not intend to dismiss or belittle oral tradition and oral
history. It's a vital component of the study of the past.
Rather, I was thinking about the kinds of folk-myths which
careful analysis of written and oral records often disprove.
Professor Carruthers spoke of Afrikaner heritage, which brought
to mind recent reading I've done on differing interpretations of
Euro-American expansion into the American west, particularly as
depicted in the genre of Western films.


My other point may need expansion as well, and an example may
illustrate. Several years ago I visited Louisbourg, a French
fortress community in Nova Scotia which has been beautifully
restored by Parks Canada and is interpreted by the best example
of living history that I've ever seen (and I am usually quite
critical of "living history" exhibits.) Among the exhibits is an
area describing how the restoration was undertaken. The French
administration kept such elaborate and detailed records, down to
the number and types of nails used in each building constructed,
that Parks Canada was able to reconstruct with stunning
accuracy. (Fortunately they decided to serve nut-brown ale in
the tavern, rather than the spruce beer that was historically
correct.)


The keeping of such records might be considered an example of a
bean-counter's mentality, but my point in the earlier posting
was that those very records of beans counted sometimes turn out
to be invaluable historical records. But they aren't always
kept, and when lost, can't be used to corroborate or dispute
oral tradition.





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