Oral History Methodology Research Articles

Echoes of Loss: Examining Gendered Violence and Legacy in the Armenian Genocide

This article explores the intergenerational transmission of memories among descendants of Armenian Genocide survivors, focusing on perspectives from both males and females. Using an oral history methodology in three provinces– Erznka (modern-day Erzincan), Malatya, and Dersim – the study investigates how narratives of the genocide have been passed down and changed within families. The research emphasizes the gender-specific tactics of the genocide, where Armenian men were often targeted for extermination, while women and children endured forced marches, sexual violence, abductions and forced marriages. By connecting with descendants who carry the post-memory of these events, the study reveals the deep and lasting impact of these atrocities on the Armenian community. Their stories unveil the intricate layers of trauma and resilience that define the Armenian experience and contribute to a broader understanding of genocide and its enduring effects on future generations.

Reticence, gender, and deindustrialisation: oral history challenges emerging within deindustrialisation studies and labour history

ABSTRACT This article presents a reflective review of the challenges of interviewing hard-to-reach and marginalised groups when employing an oral history methodology. Using Belfast, Northern Ireland, as a case study, the article reflects on the significance of social and cultural markers that must be contended with, and argues for the importance of responsible research in response to instances of reticence. In addition, this article reviews the challenges faced by the author with regards to the gendered dimensions of deindustrialisation studies, particularly when interviewing women about the familial experiences of the deindustrialisation of heavy industry. The article advocates for compassionate approaches within an oral history methodology, particularly in post-conflict societies where unresolved trauma and complex ethno-cultural identities exist. Considering such issues, offers an opportunity to reenergise and expand the scope of labour history and deindustrialisation studies.

Memories and testimonies of passbooks, permits and platkeps in apartheid-era Batho, Mangaung

he memories and testimonies of black people who were on the receiving end of racial discrimination provide important evidence of their lived experiences during the apartheid era (1948–1994). They ‘revisit’ apartheid South Africa because of recurring memories of traumatic experiences. Sadly, they relive the painful incidents emotionally when such memories are triggered. The National Museum in Bloemfontein has interviewed more than 150 Batho residents about their experiences of Batho’s apartheid past, specifically their experiences of racist municipal laws and regulations. Although discriminatory municipal policies are rooted in the racial sentiments of Bloemfontein’s colonial (1846–1910) and segregationist (1910–1948) periods, they are also based on national legislation, notably the Natives (Urban Areas) Act of 1923. Direct quotes from interviews allow interviewees to speak for themselves. The interviewees’ testimonies of their experiences have generated information about, among others, the carrying of passbooks; visits to the pass office; maltreatment by municipal police (platkeps); being arrested for not having a passbook; spending time in police cells for committing loaferskap (idleness) or for housing an overnight guest without a lodger’s permit; being victims of violent house raids; and being harassed by the night curfew siren. Because most interviewees’ parents and grandparents were subjected to similar discriminatory laws and regulations, traumatic experiences are a multi-generational phenomenon.Contribution: The oral history methodology was used to reconstruct aspects of Batho’s apartheid history. By tapping into people’s memories and testimonies, this article aims to present a history from ‘below’ of Mangaung’s oldest existing township and, thereby, contribute to local historiography.

Keeping the Accent? Voice, Alterity, and Memory in Oral History Interviews with Northern Ireland Migrants in England

ABSTRACT This article discusses a series of interviews with migrants from the North of Ireland to Britain during the Troubles (1969–1998) to explore how they narrate their experiences of movement and settlement by talking about voice and accent. Drawing specifically on two interviews—one with someone who felt her accent caused her to be seen as illiberal and uncivilized, and another who felt he could use his accent situationally and actively, sometimes to his advantage—we argue that accent is a site where interviewees can describe aspects of their memories of migration. Additionally, we argue that existing sociological work on voice, accent, and Irishness in Britain provides useful conceptual framing for this kind of research, but that an oral history methodology makes a more nuanced understanding of accent possible, both in terms of its relationship to individual life trajectories and in terms of the specific histories it relates to (in this instance, the history of the war in both Ireland and Britain).

A construção da periculosidade em relatos sobre usuários de serviços substitutivos de saúde mental

Abstract Objective The psychiatric concept of mental illness disseminated the association between psychological suffering and dangerousness in the West and in countries like Brazil, influenced by Western culture. This article aims to understand how dangerousness is constructed as an identity trait of users accessing substitute services, specifically Psychosocial Care Centers and Therapeutic Residences. It is based on accounts from the population residing near these services in the municipalities of João Pessoa and Campina Grande (Paraíba/Brazil). Method The qualitative methodology of Oral History was employed, and 106 oral testimonies were collected from adult individuals and subjected to Discourse Analysis according to the perspective adopted by Discursive Psychology. Results Identity attributes such as aggressiveness, irrationality and several others with similar meaning were used with varying degrees of subtlety to describe users. Conclusion Despite the differences, the testimonies were employed to link the users with dangerousness and render them unfit for social life.

Un eleno en la defensa del gobierno popular en Chile, 1973: Real Atahualpa Venegas Venegas, ‘Jorge’

On September 11, 1973, one of the bloodiest dictatorships in Latin America began with the violent overthrow of Salvador Allende’s government. In this article, I analyze the resistance organized by the Elenos, militants of the National Liberation Army, based on the testimony of a Socialist Party member who later went into exile in Mexico. I apply oral history methodology to examine his involvement in defending the Popular Unity government. My analysis aims to identify the individual and collective resistance strategies employed during and after the coup, contributing to the broader understanding of leftist movements' resistance in Chile.

Migration of German Children from East Prussia and of Russian-speaking Children to Post-War Lithuania


 
 
 The wave of famine-caused migration to Soviet Lithuania (1946–1948) has been a subject of historiographical analysis, focusing selectively on one of the migrant groups: either the East Prussian German children (widely recognised in the cultural memory as the wolf children) or those arriving from famine-affected republics of the Soviet Union. By employing the methodology of oral history, using the interviews collected alongside materials sourced from Lithuanian and German archives, research institutes, and memory institutions, this article aims to uncover the reasons behind the arrival of both groups of migrant children in Soviet Lithuania. It also investigates the attempts made by the bureaucratic apparatus to control and halt migration, as well as the efforts of the wolf children in seeking social justice in Germany after 1990. The study reveals that the Soviet system perceived migrants from East Prussia and other Soviet republics primarily as a potential threat due to the risk of a typhus outbreak in Lithuania.
 
 

The Use of Oral History in Researching Psychiatry's Past

Oral history has become firmly established as a method to delve into and bring to light the experiences and viewpoints of individuals who have been suppressed or marginalised in the history of psychiatry and mental healthcare. This article aims to provide an overview of the ways in which oral history has been deployed, both as a method and as a source, to address the absence of voices and the silences that continue to persist within the history of mental healthcare in the British context. The article argues for the relevance of oral history methodology to the history of psychiatry in restoring and amplifying the voices of the less powerful. The article will evidence how the collection of and re-use of oral histories of those at the receiving end of mental healthcare, and of those who provide it, has the potential to promote democratic relations in mental healthcare research by challenging traditional power relations in what historically has constituted the history of psychiatry. It has the power to bring to the fore the perspectives of key actors, particularly those with serious, long-term mental health conditions who remain under-served all along throughout the long history of mental healthcare, albeit in different ways. The article will show how oral history methodology can broaden the history of psychiatry and mental healthcare by addressing and redressing the silences and erasures therein in a range of disciplinary contexts and perspectives.

Finding Renewal and Inspiration through the Teaching and Learning of Black Education

ABSTRACT Drawing on counter-storytelling and oral history methodology, we reflect on how the teaching and learning of the past, present, and future of Black education in the Spring of 2022 both renewed and inspired us as students and a professor. Using visuals to show how students made meaning of what they were learning, we explore the dynamics, content, and lasting meaning of this educational experience that followed a “winter” characterized by a global pandemic, continued killings of unarmed Black people and reckoning with systemic racism, and the insurrection at the nation’s Capital. In total, we delineate what it means to create space for and be a part of legacies and lineages of liberatory Black education.

Desarrollo económico y orgullo: el caso de las artesanas ralámuri de Majimachi, Chihuahua, México

The artisan woman appears strongly in issues of local economic development, being the bearer of ancestral knowledge and transmitter of the same. The objective is to analyze the regional economic development that is generated around the craft sale, customer hugging, pride in their roots. It is based on the qualitative method under the oral history methodology, under the open categorization procedure. Applying semi-structured survey technique, field observation and interview, within the first semester of the year 2021. With a representation of 25 oral histories, 25 surveys and 10 interviews, applied to a Ralámuri woman from the ejido San Luis de Majimachi, Bocoyna, Chihuahua, Mexico.The results show an economic flow in the tourist regions of the municipality of Bocoyna and tourist centers near the Ejido San Luis de Majimachi through , the sale of handicrafts, triggering the main attraction the Ralámuri culture, in addition, the autonomy of women fordecision-making regardingfamily spending,what to produce, how to produce it and for whom to do it, the high degree of haggling for its clients and unfair sales by resellers is shown, in addition, the pride of its ralámuri roots and being an artisan was verified

The Equal and the More Equal: Pupils' Experiences of School in Lithuania in the late Soviet Era

Aim. The aim of the article is to reveal the experiences and attitudes of pupils who attended schools in the late Soviet era (1960s-1980s) towards the implementation of egalitarianism policies in the schools of the Lithuanian SSR. The analysis of the qualitative research material focuses on the word "felt" in the phrase "We all felt equal then", i.e., not so much on the fixation of social (in)equality by analysing the indicators of social class or economic status, but on the subjective experience of equality as a manifestation of human dignity. Methods. Following the methodology of oral history, material was collected during 32 in-depth interviews with people who had attended schools in the Lithuanian SSR in the late Soviet era. Results. Several themes emerged from the analysis of the interviews relating to the expression of egalitarianism in the Soviet school: the social class of the pupils; the economic situation of the parents; and the ability of the parents to have the so-called "blat". Conclusions. The study revealed that the implementation of the policy of egalitarianism officially declared by the Communist Party in the education system was subject to several reservations. In Soviet Lithuania, just as in the whole society, there were a lot of manifestations of blat, corruption, and favouritism. These were influenced by the positions held by pupils' parents, belonging to the nomenklatura and/or the ability to establish informal contacts. Pupils from rural schools had fewer opportunities to pursue higher education.

Oral History as a Source for the Interpretation of UBH: The World War II Shelters in Naples Case Study

What can be the contribution of oral history to the interpretation of tangible cultural assets? Starting from this conceptual question, this article focuses on the case study of the experiences Second World War in Naples bomb shelters, recently included within the Underground Built Heritage (UBH) class. The hypothesis of the research is that bomb shelters are very significant elements in the subsoil of Naples but that, due to the lack of distinctive elements and dedicated storytelling, they are only partially exploited in the context of urban parks or generic itineraries Naples’s subsoil. The thesis of the research is that the memories of those children that took refuge there during World War II (WWII), which were collected with the adoption of the oral history methodology, can integrate their value as elements of local cultural heritage and eventually support their interpretation for the benefit of the new generations. The methodology adopted was the collection, via structured and unstructured interviews, of the direct testimonies of those who took refuge in Naples’ underground during the alarms. Twenty-three interviews were carried out, and all the issues introduced have been classified according to the various themes addressed during the narration in order to allow the reconstruction of dedicated storytelling in the future. The research was carried out immediately after the acute phase of the COVID-19 pandemic, an event that claimed many victims belonging to the generation of our witnesses, whose memories were at risk of being lost forever.

HISTORY OF KRAV MAGÁ IN AMAPÁ FROM THE ORAL REPORT OF A MASTER

This study aims to reveal the arrival of Krav Magá in the State of Amapá, record dates and precursors of the modality, as well as describe the contemporary aspects of this self-defense system. Krav Magá is an Israeli self-defense system, created by Imi Litchenfeld in the 1940s. In Brazil, this system began in 1990, in Rio de Janeiro, and from then on it expanded throughout the Brazilian states. This research with a qualitative approach used the methodology of oral history, having as a methodological instrument a semi-structured interview, in which the subject of the research was one of the first practitioners in Amapá. After carrying out this research, there is – at the time – an army corporal as the initiator of Krav Magá in Amapá, around the 2000s. After the introductory process of Krav Magá, who continued the work with the modality was Sandro Coelho, subject of this research.

146 A Community Engagement Advisory Board’s 22 Years of Contributions to Translational Research

OBJECTIVES/GOALS: CTSIs around the country rely on Community Engagement Advisory Boards (CEABs) to bridge research and communities. The history of this 22-year-old board offers insight on 1) how it was created and has been sustained over time 2) its evolution, and 3) members’views of their contributions to translational research at UIC. METHODS/STUDY POPULATION: As founding members began to step down from this long-standing board, we started to document its history and members’ narratives and perspectives of the work conducted at UIC since its inception. Using an Oral History methodology, we conducted three virtual focus groups with 13 short and long-term members (n=6, n=4, n=3) to learn about changes within CEAB and in members’ roles, and individual semi-structured interviews with three long-standing members to expand on the origin and evolution of CEAB. Focus group data was coded and analyzed. We also extracted data on key events from archived files including grant proposals and CEAB meeting notes. A steering committee of three CEAB members helped guide this process. RESULTS/ANTICIPATED RESULTS: The CEAB was founded at the UIC College of Nursing in 2001 under the Center for Research on Cardiovascular Respiratory Health, with a grant from the National Institutes of Nursing Research (NINR). It was established as college-wide advisory board of community experts to help engage underserved communities and to contribute to research beyond recruitment and retention. In 2009, upon receipt of a Clinical Translational Science award that established the Center for Clinical Translational Science (CCTS), the CEAB became a campus-wide board. Over 30 community organizations and many non-affiliated community members have contributed to translational research at UIC throughout the board’s history. DISCUSSION/SIGNIFICANCE: Over twenty years later, the CEAB continues to help bridge researchers and communities, and to raise awareness about community needs, the importance of cultural relevance, and the inclusion of underserved communities in research. Long-term members have played a key role in providing continuity over the years.

УСНОІСТОРИЧНІ СВІДЧЕННЯ ТА СПОМИНИ ЯК ДЖЕРЕЛО ДО ВИВЧЕННЯ РОСІЙСЬКО-УКРАЇНСЬКОЇ ВІЙНИ: МЕТОДОЛОГІЧНІ ТА ПРАВОВІ ЗАСАДИ

The paper attempts to summarize the experience gained in oral history research and interviews, which are applied to certain categories of respondents, to determine the place of oral history testimonies and memories as sources for the study of the Russian-Ukrainian war, and to outline certain legal aspects regarding the processing of interview results. Oral history methodology is much more developed abroad than in Ukraine. Acquisitions in the field of oral history must be actively used when acquiring practical skills in this direction. When interviewing, it is necessary to take into account such factors as the physical, emotional and mental state of the respondent. The main task of the oral history researcher is not only to get the least subjective source of information about certain event, but also not to harm the interviewee. Each category of respondents (divided according to different criteria) has its own peculiarities in interviewing. The narrative and survey technique depends on each category individually, which affects the method of evidence gathering. When interviewing, one should use all possible means and methods for qualitative creation of a narrative, as well as its subsequent transcription and preservation. If the interview is recorded using audio and not video, it does not mean that it is worse. Each type of technical equipment has its advantages and disadvantages, and the quality of the source that will be stored or used in scientific work depends to a large extent on the technical equipment and skills of the scientist. The correct legal registration of oral history evidence will help to use them in the future with the greatest benefit for science and social and political life. Oral history researchers in the process of collecting memories must strictly adhere to the legal norms of the current legislation, as well as to moral and ethical principles. Moreover, one should not forget that the respondent is not a historical source; he or she is a living person with his or her own experiences, fears and emotions. Only in this case the creation of oral history sources will result positively.

Queer collective memory during the time of COVID: Timelessness, isolation, and resilience in the United Kingdom.

Oral history collections both rely on and preserve community memories, and are of importance for understanding marginalized communities, particularly when they privilege minority voices. This article draws from original, video-based oral histories conducted for the United Kingdom's national LGBTQ+ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer/questioning, and others) museum, Queer Britain, focusing on an ongoing collection of oral histories organized around experiences related to the COVID pandemic. In order to protect the health of those interviewed and the interviewers, the researchers used virtual meeting software to record video interviews and utilized qualitative software to expand and support interview analysis. Specific oral history methodologies and concepts are explored, and museum studies content is briefly discussed, specifically as it relates to museums of marginalized people. Themes explored include isolation and timelessness, the impact of the pandemic on diverse LGBTQ+ communities, and HIV/AIDS.

Piloting the Counter-Memorias Digital Testimonio Project

The vision for the Counter-Memorias Digital Testimonio Project is to create an online non-custodial archive of video-recorded testimonios and pedagogical resources centered on the memories and experiences of women from Latin American and Caribbean diasporas living in Southern California. The project centers on those with social identities traditionally excluded from homogenous conceptualizations of latinidad, including, but not limited to Afro/Black, Indigenous, Asian, Central American, Muslim, Queer, Trans, and multi-racial/ethnic identities. In doing this, the project seeks to reformulate the Latin American oral history methodology of testimonio to engage the voices of those often excluded from U.S. Chicana/Latina theorization of the genre, while critiquing colonial power relations. As a part of this process, the project de-centers Western digital archives methods by employing the everyday technologies used by diasporic migrant women (e.g., mobile phones and WhatsApp) to forge networked connections with loved ones. Currently, in its pilot phase, this essay focuses on the process of recording the project’s first testimonies, which come from two Garifuna women, a grandmother and a granddaughter. Garifuna (or Garinagu) are an Afro/Black Indigenous people descended from Carib and Arawak peoples and West Africans who escaped colonial enslavement during a shipwreck in the 15th century near the Caribbean Island known today as St. Vincent. The intervention made here is an attempt to highlight the stories of those who have been systemically erased, guided by the principles of reciprocity and redistributive relations to achieve social transformation even in the face of seemingly insurmountable obstacles. In this regard, I hope that our testimonio process will enact new modes of storytelling that move us further toward a translocal ethical-political strategy of liberation.

DIREITOS HUMANOS E PSICOLOGIA ESCOLAR: ENTREVISTA COM A PROFA. DRA. REGINA LUCIA SUCUPIRA PEDROZA

ABSTRACT The professor Sucupira Pedroza has a unique foray into the field of School and Educational Psychology and Human Rights, with different interlocution forms in studies, research, extension actions and teaching at undergraduate and graduate levels. The interviewee in the History Section of the School and Educational Psychology Journal is a professor at the Department of School Psychology and Development, at the Institute of Psychology in the University of Brasília-UnB, where she is also a supervisor in the Postgraduate Program in Human and School Development Processes and in the Graduate Program in Human Rights and Citizenship. She is part of ANPEPP Working Group on Psychology and Educational Policies, and she has been researching about teacher training, human rights education, playing in human development, school psychology and sport psychology. Among her great theoretical inspirations are the studies of Vigotski, Wallon, Freud, and Freire. Supported by the methodology of Oral History, the researcher Fauston Negreiros carried out this interview, in which the reflections that the professor gives about her own professional trajectory are presented.

Practices of Friendship: The Collective Memory of Twin Towns in Sverdlovsk Region of the USSR and the West Bohemian Region of Czechoslovakia

This article describes the experience of an interdisciplinary field study devoted to the examination of the collective memory of eyewitnesses of twinning ties of small towns of Sverdlovsk Region and the West Bohemian Region of Czechoslovakia in the 1960s–1990s. The study refers to five towns of the Middle Urals: Bogdanovich, Zarechny, Karpinsk, Pervouralsk, and Sysert. The theme of memory unites the efforts of historians and sociologists in the context of a general trend — the turn of society towards the local past, its assessment, and the formation of ideological positions for the present. The purpose of the article is to show the possibilities of historical and sociological understanding of twinning in the aspect of temporal dimensions. The choice and justification of methods for the applied study of the phenomenon of twinning ties is based on the methodology of collective memory: the category of “contextuality” of memory, described in the works of M. Halbwachs, J. Olick, is important for the authors; the study of memories of the recent past is carried out within the theory of the experience of the generation of K. Mannheim and M. Mead; the position of P. Hutton makes a significant basis about the measure of reproduction of the past; the “elaboration” of preliminary prejudices is built within the framework of the methodology of oral history. On the site of the Local History Museums of each of the five towns, round tables were held with participants of twinning ties. In addition, guests who had no such experience attended the events. The topic of interaction with residents of the Western Bohemian Region was proposed for discussion. It could be memories of trips to Czechoslovakia, or the arrival of the twin “brothers” in the Middle Urals. At the time of the events described, the participants of the round tables could perform various social roles.

Reflective memories: The Indian diaspora who call South Africa home

Durban, a coastal city in KwaZulu-Natal (one of the nine provinces in South Africa) boasts the Durban Harbour. One hundred and sixty-two years ago, this harbour was referred to as the Port of Natal. Between the year’s of 1860 and 1911, 152 184 indentured Indian labourers entered the British owned Colony of Natal through this port. Even though indentureship was officially abolished in Natal on 21 July 1911, the hardships and challenges endured by Indian nationals in Natal continued. This article shines a spotlight on the period 1895–1960 through the theoretical prism of indentureship by focusing on the reflective memories of the respondent, Mr J.S. Singh, a nonagenarian. Using oral history methodology, face-to-face interviews were held with the respondent. His reflective memories brought alive the reality of life experiences in Natal between 1895 and 1960. He shared the journey of his Indian born paternal grandmother, Mrs Takurine Mahesh Singh who constitutes the cohort that left their country of birth as Indian nationals but subsequently created the Indian diaspora in Natal, where their descendants now call South Africa their home.Contribution: The content of this article is not simply described but also briefly reflected upon and explored as certain issues may be of interest to new, emerging and established oral historians. Furthermore, audio and video recordings of the interviews, which clearly illustrate oral history as the methodology as applied in this research, are available for academic, education and research purposes.