口述歷史及其侷限：以戰後接收東北的回憶為例

Oral History and Its Limits: The Case of Northeastern China after the Nationalist Takeover in 1945

歷史研究經常缺乏文獻的佐證，使得真相難以究明。為了解決相關問題，口述訪談於是成為史家重建史實的工具。本文以戰後接收東北的經驗為例，探討口述資料之價值，以及史實與現實的關係。一般說來，口述訪問是一種結合個人記憶與特定敘事的資料，有時研究者必須考慮到紀錄者採訪的時機。如同戰後滿洲的個案所示，因為國共內戰的問題複雜，導致相關口述呈現各說各話的情況。為了釐清口述方法的優劣所在，作者嘗試分析來自不同群體的自白，認為它們有別於檔案，提供理解史實的其他管道。當我們回顧戰後中國東北史之際，應該留心到多元的聲音及其「地方性思維」的意義。此外，要關切視覺圖像或其他語言史料，以豐富其中的歷史過程。

Due to the lack of supporting historical documents, historians frequently turn to oral history to reconstruct the past. This paper explores the increasingly popular type of research and examines the value of oral documents and the inherent relationship between history and reality through case-studies from Northeastern China after the World War II. In general, the occasion of initial recording by interviewers needs to be considered since oral interviews combine individual memories and specific narratives. As the case of post-war Manchuria indicates, the authentication of oral histories was uncertain due to a series of conflicts between the Kuomintang and the Chinese Communist Party. To understand the constraints and advantages of oral history by analyzing confessions from different groups, this paper argues that unlike traditional archives, these confessions provide a peculiar way to understand historical contexts, especially when reviewing the history of Northeastern China after the Nationalist takeover, the visual images, materials in different languages, various ideas, and the “local consciousness” of the narratives are all worth examining.