The Buts and Ifs of a Good Interview

In order to better understand the problems of producing a book on the subject of oral history or memoirs, the Iranian Oral History Website has conducted short conversations with some experts and practitioners, the results of which will be presented to readers in the form of short notes and in several parts.

Oral History with which approach?

At a general glance, it appears that oral history can be considered from three approaches. The first approach is to regard oral history as a technique or method for collecting data. In this view, oral history is conceived as a triangle, with one side representing the interviewee, the second side the interviewer or oral historian, and the third side the medium of transmission—either audio or video recording—that can create and actualize the intersubjective thought between the ...

Annotation

When conducting research or during the editing stage, the audience must be considered and the context must be provided for a better understanding of the text. When a series of statements or terms and expressions are used in the research that create ambiguity for the audience or cause damage to the semantic chain of the oral history text, these sections must be annotated.

Design and Structure of Interview Questions in Oral History: Principles and Methods

The Oral History website, aiming to shed light on the challenges and obstacles in producing oral history works and memoirs, has conducted interviews with several experts and practitioners in the field. These discussions are presented here in the form of short notes. The interview, as the primary tool for compiling oral history works, is not a one-way discourse but rather a process based on bilateral dialogue.

Oral History Interviewing: Challenges, Significance, and Strategies

The Oral History Website, in an effort to delve deeper into the complexities and challenges surrounding the production of oral history works and memoirs, has engaged in discussions with several scholars and practitioners in the field. These conversations will be presented to readers in the form of brief analytical notes.

Benefits of Oral History

History, as one of the fundamental disciplines within the humanities, has evolved through time to adopt various forms and methodologies. Concepts such as "written history," "comprehensive history," and "oral history" exemplify these approaches. Written history relies on documents and textual sources for the analysis and composition of historical accounts, while comprehensive history seeks to integrate various sources—both written and oral.

Various Narrations and Interpretations in Oral History

In oral history, sometimes the memories of a person are narrated and the topic of discussion is that person; but sometimes, oral history expresses an event or a topic. In this regard, if the focus of oral history is on the "subject", the more narratives we have, the better and more accurate results will be obtained, and the more we will understand the essence of the case.

Oral History School – 8

Content editing of oral history should be close to the interviewee’s style

According to Oral History Website, Dr. Morteza Rasoulipour in the framework of four online sessions described the topic “Compilation in Oral History” in the second half of the month of Mordad (August 2024). It has been organized by the Iranian History Association. In continuation, a selection of the teaching will be retold:

Oral History School – 7

The interviewer is the best compiler

According to Oral History Website, Dr. Morteza Rasoulipour in the framework of four online sessions described the topic “Compilation in Oral History” in the second half of the month of Mordad (August 2024). It has been organized by the Iranian History Association. In continuation, a selection of the teaching will be retold:

Oral History School – 6

The position of “standard language” in compiling oral history

According to Oral History Website, Dr. Morteza Rasoulipour in the framework of four online sessions described the topic “Compilation in Oral History” in the second half of the month of Mordad (August 2024). It has been organized by the Iranian History Association. In continuation, a selection of the teaching will be retold:
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An Excerpt from the Memoirs of Reza Amir Sardari

Monafeghin: A New Deception

July-August 1989
Following the discussions around the asylum of Iraqi prisoners of war in Iran during peace negotiations, the Iraqi side, not wanting to fall behind, launched their own campaign to offer asylum. At the outset, they attempted to attract prisoners by making grand promises ...

Supports from Guilds and Bazaars peaple

Memoirs of Haj Hossein Fathi
Our base of operations had become the Saheb al-Zaman Mosque in the Kamp-Lou neighborhood of Ahvaz. With the assistance of Brother Khani and his companions, we began preparing hot meals and sending them to the frontlines. We ourselves, along with several fellow merchants from the bazaar, entered the conflict zone, bringing warm clothing, ...

War Health

Narrated by Dr. Ali Mehrabi Tavana
The book War Health is an oral narrative by Dr. Ali Mehrabi Tavana, a commander in the health sector during the Sacred Defense era. This book, in the form of six chapters and twenty conversation sessions, covers the narrator’s life from birth to the end of the [Iranian] Eight-Year War. The interviews and compilation of the book were conducted ...

Agents in Search for the Fighter

[Interview with Fatemeh Amir Hosseini 2019/03/08.] The agents were always at our house. They would come day and night, turn the house upside down, mess up the library. For example, I remember we had the book Eqtesadona (Our Economy) by Mr. Sadr, and Imam Khomeini’s Resaleh (Treatise). We had many books—they would pack some of them up and take them away. Then the next day, they would knock again. Back then, our house was on Ghiyasi Street. We were really distressed.