Religious memory and healing: the oral historian as a healer in three South African contexts

Abstract

In this article the oral historian as a co-constructor of stories is explored, and the oral construction of stories towards healing is described in three South African contexts . The first of these roles to be described is the oral historian as a therapist who triggers memories of agency when co-constructing histories of trauma. The second role is that of a pastor, with the oral historian respectfully dealing with religious remembrance as the communal formation of contra-culture amidst past and present government policies and societal structures. Thirdly, the oral historian takes on the role of a public-opinion maker, discovering the unifying symbols of healing in a community and placing them, as a co-constructor, in the public sphere. Coconstruction, then, is seen not as a process of naively collecting stories, but as a powerfully disciplining enterprise for all parties involved when stories are composed within real and imagined relationships, discomposed by removing masks, and finally recomposed towards healing and closure.