Linguistics and Oral History - by Chris Fitzgerald (Hardcover)

About the Book

Brings together oral historians and linguists from around the world to explore the complimentary nature of these two disciplines.

Book Synopsis

This edited volume brings together linguistic and oral history practitioners to explore the intersections between both disciplines.

This book is comprised of contributions from linguists (corpus linguists, sociolinguists, dialectologists and second language acquisition experts) to present how they investigate oral history texts from a linguistic perspective as well as contributions from oral history practitioners who focus on language-related aspects of their subject.

In presenting perspectives from both disciplines, this book exposes the synergies that exist between oral history and linguistics including methodological parallels in constructing and analysing written transcriptions of spoken events, analytical approaches to determining salient themes and linguistic items, relevant theoretical perspectives that frame discourse practices in oral histories and the practical considerations facing researchers when investigating large samples of spoken discourse.

This book shows that oral historians and linguists are often doing the same things in different ways and makes the case for more collaboration between the disciplines to promote exchange of ideas, efficiency of practice and reciprocal progression.

Review Quotes

This excellent book is pioneering in showing how the methods of corpus linguistics can illuminate oral history. Fitzgerald has assembled an impressively strong group of authors with different specialisms: each chapter provides an exemplary case study of how corpus linguistics and oral history can be combined to mutual advantage.
Ivor Timmis, Emeritus Professor of English Language Teaching, Leeds Beckett University, UK

This volume expertly bridges oral history and linguistics, highlighting methods and theoretical perspectives. It finds synergies between practitioners and linguistics, making it essential for anyone interested in how linguistics can inform oral history studies.
Professor Anne O'Keeffe, Mary Immaculate College, University of Limerick, Ireland

About the Author

Chris Fitzgerald is a Researcher and Lecturer in the Department of English Language and Literature at Mary Immaculate College, Ireland.