Oral history has marked a significant methodological innovation for South American historiography. In a dialogue with European and US oral history, it has found its specific field of interest in subaltern studies and in the history of common people. This literature review focuses on different national cases and local experiences (Mexico, Bolivia, Brazil, Argentina) that, however different, all share a militant approach, which is also the result of the desire of redeeming a past marked by the dictatorships.