Reframing Historical Research: The Intersections of Digital Archives and Oral Narratives

This paper examines the transformative convergence of digital archives and oral narratives in contemporary historical research. Traditional archives, though foundational, have long privileged elite voices while excluding subaltern experiences. Digital archives expand access, preserve fragile sources, and generate new forms of evidence, yet they also raise critical concerns regarding authenticity, bias, and the reproduction of existing hierarchies. Oral narratives, once dismissed as unreliable, have emerged as essential tools for recovering silenced voices and reconstructing lived experience, though they too present methodological and ethical challenges rooted in memory, subjectivity, and power relations. By analyzing the strengths and limitations of both approaches, the paper argues that their integration offers the most promising path forward. Digital technologies enhance the preservation and dissemination of oral testimonies, while oral traditions complicate and enrich the archival record. Together, they democratize historical practice, broaden participation, and produce more inclusive narratives. The study concludes that a critical and ethical synthesis of these methods can redefine historical inquiry, creating histories that are both rigorous and profoundly humane.