Abrams Lynn
University of Glasgow.
Hist Workshop J. 2012;73(1):95-117. doi: 10.1093/hwj/dbr058.
The focus of this article is a single personal narrative – a Shetland woman's telling of a story about two girls on a journey to fetch a cure for a sick relative from a wise woman. The story is treated as a cultural document which offers the historian a conduit to a past that is respectful of indigenous woman-centred interpretations of how that past was experienced and understood. The "story of the bottle of medicine" is more than a skilful telling of a local tale; it is a memory practice that provides a path to a deeper and more nuanced understanding of a culture. Applying perspectives from anthropology, oral history and narrative analysis, three sets of questions are addressed: the issue of authenticity; the significance of the narrative structure and storytelling strategies employed; and the nature of the female performance. Ultimately the article asks what this story can tell us about women's interpretation of their own history.
本文的重点是一个个人叙述——一位设得兰群岛的女性讲述的一个故事，故事中两个女孩踏上旅程，去向一位智慧女性寻求治愈生病亲属的方法。这个故事被视为一份文化文献，为历史学家提供了一条通向过去的渠道，这种对过去的解读尊重以本土女性为中心的视角，即过去是如何被体验和理解的。“药瓶的故事”不仅仅是对一个当地故事的巧妙讲述；它是一种记忆实践，为更深入、更细致入微地理解一种文化提供了一条途径。运用人类学、口述历史和叙事分析的视角，探讨了三组问题：真实性问题；所采用的叙事结构和讲故事策略的重要性；以及女性表演的性质。最终，本文探讨了这个故事能让我们了解到女性对自身历史的哪些解读。
