Logo image
Back
Save Our Shipyards: Revisiting a Forgotten History Through Film Elicitation Oral History
Journal article   Open access

Save Our Shipyards: Revisiting a Forgotten History Through Film Elicitation Oral History

Alison Atkinson-Phillips and Matt Perry
Studies in Oral History, (46), pp.78-101
2024
pdf
Published215.21 kBDownloadView
Open Access
url
https://oralhistoryaustralia.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/2024_SOH_46_ARTICLE_03_AtkinsonPhillips-Perry.pdfView
PDF version of Save Our Shipyards: Revisiting a Forgotten History Through Film Elicitation Oral History

Abstract

oral history memory film activism labour history Business and labour history British history
Oral historians regularly use photographs, personal artefacts, or the landscape to access a fuller range of personal feelings and meanings of the past. Yet while archival films are regularly used to stimulate community reminiscence, little has been written about the potentialities of audiovisual elicitation as part of oral history methodology. This paper explores the value of film elicitation methods to revisit a largely forgotten public campaign aimed at halting the closure of shipyards in North East England. We used two short documentary videos as memory prompts for union activists and film producers. The films elicited strong emotional responses, prompting participants to reflect on the gaps between their memories and the ways events were portrayed at the time. In a region where the loss of the shipbuilding industry has significant ongoing social, cultural and economic impacts, the closures are often remembered as a historical inevitability. In contrast, revisiting the films with those who participated in their production offered an opportunity to visit a moment of possibility. We argue that film elicitation is a powerful tool for oral historians who want to explore marginalised histories while avoiding some of the pitfalls of ‘recovery’ oral history.

Details

Metrics

62 File views/ downloads
67 Record Views
Logo image