Unveiling of the book "Oral History: What and Why"

The First report: Alireza Kamari

Edited by Maryam Asadi Jafari
Translated by Fazel Shirzad

2025-11-4

Note: According to the Oral History website, the unveiling ceremony of the book "Oral History: What and Why" by Hamid Qazvini was held on Sunday evening, November 24, 1404, in the presence of experts in the field of oral history in the Salman Farsi Hall of the Arts Center.

At the beginning of the ceremony, Alireza Kamari, a researcher in the field of oral history, briefly presented some material, some of which served as an introduction and some as references to the book itself: "My presence at this meeting is a tribute to the author and the author; someone like Mr. Qazvini, who has been living oral history for years and has done brilliant work.

Many discussions about oral history, either orally in the form of meetings and discussions or in writing in the form of books, articles, speeches, and essays, have been published and made available to the public in the last 21 years, in all of which, more or less, oral history issues and topics have been the target of criticism, comment, and review. Mr. Qazvini's new work is also one of dozens of works in this field, and I think it is necessary, in order to better introduce it and other works in the field of oral history, to take at least four basic steps that should be taken into consideration by those responsible, especially in the field of art:

First, preparing and compiling a comprehensive bibliography of oral history, including all data produced in this field, including articles, books, essays, theses, lectures, round tables, discussions, etc.

Second, providing a guide index or subject index, including all data related to oral history, which will reveal which topics and issues have been the subject of discussion, criticism, opinion, research, and even attention and favor in the field of oral history, and conversely, which topics and issues have been neglected and need to be reflected on more carefully.

Third, the preparation and compilation of guidelines for editing and preparing works in the field of oral history by organizations, institutions, and institutions that are active and claim to be such as the National Archives and Library Organization, so that it becomes clear on what basis each of them strives to produce numerous works under the title of oral history. It is possible that this will prevent the production of many works that are produced, printed, and published in the name of oral history and under this title - without having a close connection to oral history. Such as some works that, although their subject heading was oral history, would be more appropriate to be placed under memoirs and memoir writing.

Fourth, the systematic criticism of the works produced under the title of “oral history”, mainly focused on three important issues and topics in oral history, which I fortunately saw in Mr. Qazvini’s book, these three issues and topics have been well observed: “Concepts, generalities, and definitions”, “interviews”, which are the cornerstones of the emergence of oral history, “compilation and publication”, which can not necessarily be in the form of a book, but can also take the form of audio or video.

I have rarely seen a concise and orderly article on the rules and rituals of criticism; let alone books. However, criticism has numerous useful and effective functions, including, in accordance with the requirements of a pathological view of this field, the removal of misunderstandings of the contents contained in the works of this field and sometimes even the removal of misunderstandings of the term oral history itself, which is a damage that affects many institutions involved in oral history activities.

My prediction is that the completion and implementation of these four tasks will pave the way for the production of a compendium, or as some interpret it, an encyclopedia of oral history, as the need for such a work and its production, printing, and publication is greatly felt.