Ethical Oral History
Time: 2025-09-19 10:45 - 12:15
Location: Conference room at Auditorium Maximum
Chairman: Nompilo Ndlovu
Events within this Session
Ethics and Oral History: Harnessing the Power of Oral History to Document, Heal and Empower
Type: session | Language: English
Time: 10:45 - 12:15
Abstract
Many oral historians have good intentions but haven’t fully considered how the oral history process impacts narrators and their communities – to their detriment. Ethical considerations include not only what histories to tell and disseminate, but how to do so in ways that are non-extractive, healing and empowering. Experience and research clearly demonstrate the necessity of ethics in every step of an oral history project. From the agenda to the interview, archiving to dissemination, this paper articulates the questions oral historians must ask ourselves as well as practical steps that concretize ethical practices. The goal is to inspire reflection, refine the principles of ethical storytelling praxis, and increase ethical practices in the oral history field for the benefit of all. My research includes ethics in communications, storytelling, and leadership, with international case studies from oral history projects related to war, refugees, the environment, and marginalized communities. I also draw honestly on 30+ years of experience as a white American oral historian collaborating with communities of color.
Speakers
How to Find Knowledge in a Well of Words
Type: session | Language: English
Time: 10:45 - 12:15
Abstract
This proposal explores the experience of conducting oral history interviews in the presence of the field mediator. This figure is relevant for allowing the researcher to access the field and meet people to be interviewed. However, the field mediator remains in the background once it fulfills its tasks, whereas the interviewer and the interviewee keep their leading roles as the craftsmen of oral history. The paper highlights how the presence of the field mediator is especially significant to reshape the roles of the interviewer and the interviewee moving beyond this binary conceptualization. The paper examines two key issues through seven oral history interviews conducted in Kolkata with former Left revolutionary activists of the Naxalbari movement (1967-1975). The languages employed were Bengali, English, and Hindi. The first part focuses on two perspectives: one related to the researcher – Vanessa from Italy – and another related to the field mediator – Nilanjan from Kolkata. They recall their personal feelings experienced during the interviews, as both had their own concerns. For the researcher, how to absorb the non-Western mediated oral field material through the filters of her Western academic training and for the field mediator, maintaining ethical neutrality while not losing his interpretative part. The second part critically analyses the decision of allowing interviews to be held at the presence of the field mediator who, unlike the researcher, is also a native speaker. Rather than being invasive, this paper suggests that in some cases the presence of the field mediator is relevant for building trust, encouraging memories, and creating insightful interactions that could not take place otherwise. Finally, the goal of this paper is to reassign centrality to the many generative constraints that produce the interview. Only through reconceiving the binary relationship interviewer/interviewee, and subject/object of research, can we foster a more democratic engagement in research.
Speakers
Re-thinking Oral History Analysis: the Affective Presence of Voice
Type: session | Language: English
Time: 10:45 - 12:15
Abstract
More than forty years ago, Alessandro Portelli stated that “oral sources are oral sources” (2016: 49) and argued in favour of audio recordings as they more accurately demonstrate the multidimensional character of the situational experience in the interview process than transcripts. Although the orality of interviewing has often been emphasised, audio recording has long been subordinated to transcribing oral history, and oral history analysis has rarely focused on the auditory dimension of interviews (Apel/Althaus/Nikou/Schemmer 2024). The voice reveals and achieves a lot in people’s interaction that goes beyond communication. In my talk, I will explore the auditory dimension of interviews and the significance of the voice as a carrier of both content and context. The focus will be on the (re -)analysis of archived oral history interviews. In oral history, the voices of those involved in the interview process is an irreplaceable element. The voice gives immediate and instant access to the individual experience as well as to interpersonal, intersubjective dynamics. Re-thinking how we analyze oral history data is therefore essential in the context of the conference. My contribution aims to put the emphasis on the fact that we should actually make silenced and marginalized voices heard in the literal sense, and argues why this is important. Firstly, the voice is a powerful tool for revealing subjectivity in oral history. Secondly, the voice is an essential means of connection. In listening consciously to recordings transmitting attitudes, intentions, and moods, communicative connections as well as dissonances among the participants become perceptible. This raises questions about the broader context and power dynamics in the data collection process. Further, the analysis of voices, dialects, accents, and the use of language reveal differences in gender, education, and social backgrounds of the dialogue partners, all aspects which are highly relevant for a reflective interview practice.
Speakers
Is a Dessert Served or do I Pose as One? Narrator as an Improper Suitor
Type: session | Language: English
Time: 10:45 - 12:15
Abstract
Graduated from film studies and art history. Her dissertation focused on Czechoslovak-Yugoslav relations in film culture. Works at Národní filmový archiv Prague as a curator of oral history, participates in the development of an oral history database and coordinates with the archive’s cinema as a programmer and an educator. Co-authored Generation of Normalisation. Lost Hope of Czech Cinema? (2017) and Animation 70 (2024). Her current focus is the history of cinemas in Czechoslovakia. She is a committee member of Czech Oral History Association and Czech Society for Queer Memory. In the practice of oral history, the emphasis on an ethical approach towards the narrator is rightfully highlighted. While this is crucial, it is equally important to address the need for interviewers to consider their own self-care. Much has been written on the topics of emotional interviews and secondary trauma, but less attention has been given to the issue of sexual harassment by narrators during interviews. Drawing from the personal experience of a female scholar and interviewer in Czech society, which is deeply rooted in patriarchy and sexism, I will explore the gender-specific dynamics of interviewer-interviewee interactions. My analysis will focus on the differences between interviewing elderly women compared to elderly men. Women typically create a welcoming environment, similar to a visit to one’s grandmother, whereas men often position themselves as either instructive authorities or suitors. While not always overtly intrusive, men’s comments on appearance, tendencies to show off, or flirtatious conduct frequently feel like courting. In the worst cases, unwanted sexually motivated behaviour occurs. This presentation aims to address several questions regarding these situations. How subjective is the perception of such encounters? How much do cultural differences impact these interactions? How can one maintain a professional relationship with a male narrator? Where is the line between tolerating behaviour and having one’s personal rights violated? Is using an interview protocol as a therapeutic means sufficient? What steps should be taken to recover from such experiences? By addressing these questions, I hope to shed light on the complex dynamics at play and provide guidance for interviewers navigating these challenging interactions.