Form and Performance in Oral History (Narratives): Historiographical Insights from Surfing and Snowboarding

Abstract

In this article we revisit the use of oral testimony in sport history. The article comprises three substantive sections. In the first, we argue that oral testimonies are typically cast as narratives, even though they are usually generated as a series of responses to individual questions. Narrative configurations raise issues about the relationship between the structural design of the text, or form, and the real-world events, actions and processes, or content, to which the author refers. In the second section, we argue that historians should privilege form over content in the analysis of oral testimonies. We argue that oral testimonies constitute performances to the extent that interviewees (and interviewers) perform speech through variations in tone, pace and volume, and perform by virtue of body gestures and facial expressions. In the third section, we analyze the performance elements in a series of oral testimonies provided by the world surfing champion Australian Bernard ‘Midget’ Farrelly, and the former pro snowboarder, agent, producer and brand manager Circe Wallace.