281 P -
Oral History's Difficult Conversations: Reflections on Method and Practice in Gender History
Sunday, June 4, 2017: 9:00 AM-10:30 AM
BRESL 103 (Hofstra University)
Chair:
Katrina Srigley, Nipissing University
Comment:
Katrina Srigley, Nipissing University
Session Abstract
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- Oral history practice is a research conversation which illuminates the past in complicated ways. It can reveal particularly hidden, unexpected or denied pasts, that often characterise the lives of women as well as members of beleaguered ethnic groups. The papers gathered here consider the practicalities, ethics, and historiographical demands of the often troubled conversations of oral history practice. They will examine the notion of the conversation as a path to self revelation and its potential for composure (the achievement of a sense of psychic well being) but also discomposure (its opposite). Discomposure on the part of either partner in the oral history conversation gives rise to tension within the intersubjective relationship between interviewer and interviewee. It can arise from misunderstanding, a lack of shared values, surprising revelations and discomposure can be made the more acute because of the historian’s concern with accuracy and reliability, and their readiness to challenge the narrator’s version of the past. The interview is a dynamic event which gives rise to unpredictable responses and outcomes for both parties. Through three different methodological lenses the panel considers the interview as a moment of complex interactions which inform personal and public histories in complicated ways.
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