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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Snarf Zagyg" data-source="post: 9371044" data-attributes="member: 7023840">Yeah. I hit this at length before.[URL unfurl="true"]https://www.enworld.org/threads/understanding-history-why-serious-scholarship-of-d-d-matters.698849/[/URL]I still stand by what I wrote at the end-That said, the difference between a contemporaneous source and a recounting decades later is obvious; not only does the memory have all the issues of bias that have to be accounted for that a contemporaneous source might (if not more for some cases), memory has all the additional issues of ... memory, which, as detailed above, has numerous additional issues even when a person is doing their best to accurately recount an event.That doesn't mean that you should never use oral recountings- first, they make great stories! Really. If you've ever read a book like Live from New York (an oral history of SNL) you know how much FUN they can be. They can also provide you information that you can then use to go and find contemporaneous sources and verify the stories. In addition, there will be occasions when, to paraphrase Hamilton, there's only a few people in the room where it happens, and you have to depend on what they tell you. Finally, as we go back in history, the existence of contemporaneous records (especially of marginalized or underserved communities) is more scarce, and sometimes there is little or no contemporaneous evidence.All that said, the reason for this lengthy essay should be plain- the revolution in understanding the history of our hobby has come about because we have stopped depending on the stories people tell us, and started looking at the historical record. And it's important to credit that revolution to shift from "listening to people telling us stories," to "doing the work and bringing the receipts." To do any less is to shortchange a lot of hard work.All that said, there is a reason we love stories. Because they are fun! After all, a document-based history of SNL might be more accurate, but it wouldn't include Bill Murray fighting Chevy Chase (when he came back to host) and then, as they were being dragged apart, yelling at him, "Medium talent!"</blockquote>

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