Remembering and Becoming

Reviews and Interviews

It’s very exciting to see this look at where oral history is in Aotearoa New Zealand … It’s really interesting to see how strong oral history is now … This is an incredibly exciting book. If you’re interested in oral history, this book is for you. I think you could say, oral history is not only thriving but nicely subversive.’
Paul Diamond for Nine to Noon, RNZ Listen

Ultimately, Remembering and Becoming reminds us of the power of storytelling in preserving history. In an era dominated by fast-paced media and digital communication, the book celebrates the enduring relevance of oral history as a tool for commemoration and understanding. It challenges us to think critically about our own interpretations of the past and encourages us to listen to the diverse voices that make up our shared history. For future generations, this collection will serve as an invaluable resource, offering a human-centred view of Aotearoa New Zealand’s history, rich with emotion, reflection, and the complexity of lived experience.
Chris Reed for NZ Booklovers Read

Remembering and Becoming: Oral History in Aotearoa New Zealand serves as a poignant reminder that we are not merely living through history but coexisting with it … Remembering and Becoming have created a valuable addition to Aotearoa’s thriving historical publications. Read

As a small country, for many years Aotearoa New Zealand has punched above its weight in oral history … oral history is not just a source of information about the past but can also illuminate how people make sense of past events, negotiate public narratives and create a story they can live with.
Alistair Thomson for Oral History Society Read

Remembering and Becoming presents Aotearoa New Zealand as a composite society of indigenous Māori and multiple settlers: Europeans, Pacific Islanders, and South Asian migrants. Instead of shaping a singular narrative, editors Anna Green and Megan Hutching have adeptly compiled multiple viewpoints of the past from diverse contributors – historians, anthropologists, and curators. They divide these into two broad approaches: the oral transmission of knowledge and experience from one generation to the next in Māori culture and individual interviews conducted with other groups – although even these can be intergenerational, recalling grandparents and other forebears ... The personal collaborations represented in this volume offer much to ponder, both about oral history and about a multicultural society, reconstructing its past through memories to explain present inequalities and shape its future.
Donald A. Ritchie for The Journal of New Zealand Studies Read

'The beauty of this oral history collection is its diversity and breadth of scope. Editors Anna Green and Megan Hutching introduce what is at stake for contributors: oral history illuminates new and deeper insights into historical subjects ‘impossible to reach through conventional written sources’, foregrounds ‘neglected historical agents’, and demonstrates deep and ‘continuing connections between past and present’ (pp.7–8).'
Cybèle Locke for New Zealand Journal of History (Volume 59, Number 2, October 2025)