1. Dissertation, October 17, 2017 Anna Hájková
Oral History
Dissertation, October 17, 2017
Anna Hájková

2. Outline Why oral history? Ethics The interview
How to use your material?
How to write with oral testimony?

3. Berthold Brecht, Questions From a Worker Who Reads
Who built Thebes of the seven gates?
In the books you will find the name of kings. 
Did the kings haul up the lumps of rock? 
And Babylon, many times demolished.
Who raised it up so many times? In what houses
Of gold-glittering Lima did the builders live?
Where, the evening that the Wall of China was finished
Did the masons go? Great Rome
Is full of triumphal arches. Who erected them? Over whom
Did the Caesars triumph? Had Byzantium, much praised in song,
Only palaces for its inhabitants? Even in fabled Atlantis
The night the ocean engulfed it
The drowning still bawled for their slaves.
The young Alexander conquered India.
Was he alone?
Caesar beat the Gauls.
Did he not have even a cook with him?
Philip of Spain wept when his armada
Went down. Was he the only one to weep?
Frederick the Second won the Seven Years' War. Who
Else won it?
Every page a victory.

Who cooked the feast for the victors?
Every ten years a great man.
Who paid the bill?
So many reports.
So many questions.
Transl. by Michael Hamburger

4. The struggle for the acceptance of OH
A legitimate source?
“barefoot historians” (Hans-Ulrich Wehler)
“history from below,” social and gender history, and history workshops
Legitimization: conferences, journals, successful books, establishment of new line of inquiry
Oral History Review:

8. Ethics
When undergraduate research involves an element of oral history, use of questionnaires, or other research involving live participants, the supervisor must ensure that the student completes an ethical review form before conducting the research.
In cases involving the NHS or acute ethical issues, the supervisor and Director of Undergraduate Studies will consult with the Arts and Social Sciences Research Ethics Committee and may need to seek approval from this Committee or from the NHS.
In all other cases (the overwhelming majority), we accept that the normal process of supervision is sufficient to serve the purposes of ethical review. In these cases, there is no need for completion of any form.
In the very small minority of cases where a form does need to be completed, it must be signed by the student, the supervisor (who will assist in completion of the form), and the Director of Undergraduate Studies.
FORMS FROM SUPERVISOR!

9. The interview
Production, conservation & reproduction of any historical source shapes how we understand that source
Interview & archives no different
Power
Relationship between interviewer & interviewee
Practical matters: making contact, signing forms, preparatory meeting, time, place, technology, minutes, transcription, sometimes authorization…
Over-preparation: go!

10. After the interview & varia
Critical reading: Against romanticization: necessary critical reading and contrasting other sources
Impact of books, films, narratives of others, social and cultural memory
Danger of multiple interviews: cementing, professional witnesses
Oral history as a paper archive: other people’s OH
Narratives a valid line of inquiry of their own: history of mentalities, subjectivity, genre, history of emotions
What belongs to the canon?  watch out for missing voices, people outside of the normative community (sex workers, “asocials,” mentally ill)
Social context shapes narratives