November 2012
Oral History Is Opening a New Door to the Broadcasting History
Kyoko Hirotani
Studies on broadcasting history have been dependent on “written material” to describe the facts. However official histories such as The History of Broadcasting in Japan in the 20th Century did employ interviews with those involved in broadcasting in the compilation process to supplement the lack in written data, and a number of oral records are archived in the NHK Broadcasting Culture Research Institute. This article presents the direction of reviving those treasurable “oral material,” using the methodology of “oral history” research.
Seven hundred testimonies were considered as eligible material. Three themes, broadcasting frontline in the age of live broadcasts of dramas, women’s history in broadcasting, and internationalization of broadcasting were highlighted by the characteristics of testimonies. With that, the author reviewed the descriptions in the official history and those in past studies before making analyses.
In the analyses, research questions were put in place for the comparison with the official history and for the consideration of “place” and “speech act” of the testimonies. The author also touched on the “credibility” of “oral material” by referring to literatures. The author hopes the research will open a new perspective to the broadcasting history.