Experts’ Answers to Oral History Questions

100 Questions/18

Translated by Mandana Karimi

2026-2-26

We asked several researchers and activists in the field of oral history to express their views on oral history questions. The names of each participant are listed at the beginning of their answers, and the text of all answers will be published on this portal by the end of the week. The goal of this project is to open new doors to an issue and promote scientific discussions in the field of oral history.

In this project, a question is asked every Saturday, and we ask experts to present their views in the form of a short text (about 100 words) by the end of the week. All answers will be published together so that the audience can compare and analyze the views.

The content is the opinions of the senders and does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the Oral History website. Although the answers are supposed to be based on about 100 words, in order to be polite and not to leave the discussion incomplete, in some cases, answers longer than this are also accepted.

We asked the experts to submit their answers by Sunday night so that all answers can be published on Tuesday.

Question 18:

Can oral history also be a carrier of thought?

Hassan Beheshtipour

When you ask whether oral history can also be a carrier of thought, it means that you assumed in the question that oral history does not carry thought, while if we consider history to be a science, which it is, oral history is definitely a part of the science of history, and as shown in the previous 17 questions, it has various aspects of reasoning, thoughtfulness, and methodology. I think it would be better to reconsider the design of the question.
It would be better to go to these questions:
1. What are the types of thought in oral history? (Critical, narrative, interpretive, methodological thought, etc.)

2. What are the obstacles to thoughtfulness in oral history?
3. How can oral history reproduce or challenge dominant ideas?
4. To what extent is the narrator of oral history a “thinker” and what is his relationship with the historian as a “thinker”?
5. Can oral history open up intellectual horizons beyond formal knowledge?
These questions, while assuming the rationality of oral history, address the quality, diversity, limits, and capacities of thought in it.

Gholamreza Azari Khakestar

Certainly, in oral history, thought and reflection are of fundamental importance and are an inseparable part of the process of recording history; because without thinking, a correct understanding of the narratives cannot be provided. The interviewer's questions and the interviewee's answers are based on thought, and meaning is formed in the interaction between the two. Even pauses, moods, laughter, silences, and doubts indicate the type of attitude and intellectual framework of the narrators. Hence, oral history can be a carrier of thought; a thought that expresses the thinking style, concerns, and political, social, and cultural considerations of individuals. Each interviewee carries his or her own worldview and attitude, which is reflected during the narration of events. Therefore, oral history is not simply the transmission of historical data, but is also related to the mental and interpretive layers of individuals.

Mohammad Mehdi Abdollahzade

In the definition of observing the narrator's tone in compiling oral history in writing, it is said: "Every person should narrate as they are; that is, a philosopher as a philosopher and an ordinary person as themselves." Because each person's narrative is the result of their beliefs, values, convictions, knowledge, oratory skills, experiences, physical and mental health, various considerations, and in general, their personality, which is reflected in their narrative. By scientifically analyzing and interpreting each narrative, we can understand some of these variables; because each narrative, openly and secretly, has important implications for the variables involved in it. For example, by using narrative content analysis, we can understand how people think about their experiences, and this is why changing the narrator's tone by the compiler of oral history is contrary to the principle of trustworthiness. Therefore, oral history cannot not be a carrier of thought.

Abolfazl Hassanabadi

In oral history, the interviewee does not simply express their observations of the event, but also reproduces their values, cultural assumptions, and even ideology in the underlying layers of the narrative. From this perspective, oral history is not just evidence from what they have seen, but rather an expression of lived experience that is accompanied by the narrator's understanding, interpretation, values, thoughts, and priorities, and expressed within the framework of scattered and personal memories. Of course, it should be kept in mind that the thought that is obtained from the narrator's lived experience is the result of their intellectual understanding and interpretation from the time the event occurred to the time it is expressed in the form of a conversation.

Shafigheh Niknafs

Oral history collects individuals’ accounts of personal experiences in order to expand the historical record of a place, event, person, or cultural group. If this question refers to the act of intellectualization by philosophers and experts, then certainly part of the interview can revolve around the thoughts of the interviewee. For example, an interview with Professor Dr. Gholamhossein Ebrahimi Dinani cannot be devoid of his intellectual experiences and intellectual and cultural productions. However, oral history does not seek to produce thought, and its goal is more to follow the process of historical events, facts, or truths. Oral history shows how an idea was produced, how society reacted to it, and how that idea was perpetuated.

Abolfat'h Mo'men

The history of thought and the developments of intellectual movements have always been fascinating for historians and those interested in studying events. Narrators and activists in the political, social, cultural, and economic spheres have themselves carried a certain thought or acted within a specific intellectual framework and have fought, created changes, and built institutions based on it. These thoughts have been reproduced in the context of time and space and have found new forms. Therefore, the supporters and critics of a thought movement who have witnessed its formation and expansion are important to oral history researchers. Oral history can help expand and reinterpret thoughts in the process of collecting narratives, because intellectual movements reflect the culture of society. As Martin Heidegger emphasizes, language is not simply a means of expressing thought, but thought itself.

Seyyed Mohammad Sadegh Feyz

Thought means reflection and effort to reach a new issue or discover unknowns and the existence of a theory or thought worthy of reflection in oral history, of course, it comes back to the ability and intelligence of the questioner who, in expressing deep questions to the narrator who has thought, sheds light on their undiscovered intellectual angles and can reveal the unknown. By redefining their memories and analyzing and interpreting the events that they may have been present in and had an impact on, the narrator narrates a specific perspective and theory and can be the source of subsequent discussions and perspectives. So, this event is the result of constructive and positive interaction in the oral history interview, and perhaps the compiler also plays a role in the emergence and emergence of a specific, effective, and thought-provoking theory and perspective.

Hamid Ghazvini

Essentially, thought and idea find the possibility of emergence, development and criticism in the form of words. Until a thought is transformed into words and tested with other thoughts, it will not become a valid and presentable idea. Oral history can represent the process of formation of an idea and retrace its historical course in a conversation with its bearers.
There are also many works that are the product of conversations with scientists and people of science, culture and knowledge about their individual, scientific and social life paths, and during which deep and highly intellectual discussions have been presented. Such interviews guide attentive audiences to new scientific and intellectual approaches.

AI

Yes, oral history is definitely a carrier of thought! This research method, relying on speech and language, not only transmits experiences and memories, but also provides a platform for reflecting on lived and hidden thoughts. As mentioned, language does not simply express thought, but is thought itself.
Oral history allows us to:
- Discover thoughts that may not have appeared in written texts.
- Follow the process of development of an idea in its cultural and social context.
- Understand the roots of the worldview and practical philosophy of individuals.
Therefore, oral history is not only a narrator of events, but also a window to a deeper understanding of intellectual currents and identity and social structures, and can be a source for the production of new ideas.