Title Archaeology, Memory and Oral Tradition: an Introduction the 'memory Boom'

This paper serves as an introduction to this special edition of the International Journal of Historical Archaeology on the theme of archaeology, memory and oral history. Recent approaches to oral history and memory destabilise existing grand narratives and confront some of the epistemological assumptions underpinning scientific archaeology. Here we discuss these approaches to memory and explore their impact on historical archaeology, including the challenges that forms of oral and social memory present to a field traditionally defined by the relationship between material culture and text. We then review a number of themes addressed by the articles in this volume. Keywords: memory, oral history, belonging, narrative, place, heritage Archaeology has a lengthy tradition of using oral history and as a form of historical enquiry it has long contributed to the production of public memory. Yet, recent approaches to oral and social memory undermine existing master narratives and confront some of the epistemological assumptions underpinning scientific archaeology. The active selection and construction of memory in the present has been emphasised, along with memory’s capacity to disturb dominant ways of understanding the past. In archaeology these developments have been prominent in post-colonial contexts and Indigenous archaeology. Yet there are also parallel trends in Europe, where oral history and social memory are seen as a means to access vernacular culture and subaltern understandings of the past. It was against this intellectual background that we decided to organize a theme titled Memory, Archaeology, and Oral Traditions at the Sixth World Archaeological Congress in Dublin in July 2008. Under this theme, as in this volume, we included oral history in the traditional sense of oral narratives based on first-hand experience, along with broader forms of transgenerational oral tradition, folklore, and social memory. These different forms of oral memory are frequently the focus of distinct bodies of research and publication. Nevertheless, these different kinds of oral memory intersect with one another in complex ways and all are socially and materially mediated to a greater or lesser degree. Their juxtaposition thus raises interesting and productive avenues of enquiry. We asked participants to consider the following questions, which we consider important in the future development of archaeological research on memory. How should we conceive of oral tradition and social memory? In recognizing their significance, how do we avoid objectifying and romanticizing them? Does a dichotomy between memory and history still prevail and if so what are its effects on our understandings of the past? How do we deal with the intersection of written and oral history? To what extent is social memory disparate, located and fragmented and how do authoritative narratives emerge and persist? What roles do archaeological remains play in the production of social memory and what of other ‘memory props’, such as, texts, images, folktales, myths, and places? How are oral traditions and social memory involved in the production of a sense of place? What are the processes involved in the materialization of memory? And finally, how has a concern with oral tradition impacted on archaeological enquiry and what role does memory play in the discipline and in the making of its histories? The result was a series of fascinating papers, leading to exciting and vibrant discussion. The articles in this volume build on a group of those papers, which have been substantially developed and reworked. We will return to these articles at later points in this introductory The final, definitive version of this paper has been published in International Journal of Historical Archaeology, 16(2), 2012, pp. 267-­‐283 by Springer, All rights reserved. © Siân Jones and Lynette Russell. The final version is available at: http://link.springer.com/journal/10761/16/2/page/1 overview. First, however, it is important to discuss recent approaches to oral history and social memory, as well as their impact on historical archaeology. The final, definitive version of this paper has been published in International Journal of Historical Archaeology, 16(2), 2012, pp. 267-­‐283 by Springer, All rights reserved. © Siân Jones and Lynette Russell. The final version is available at: http://link.springer.com/journal/10761/16/2/page/1