Urban Oral History: Unknown Potentials and Forgotten Identity

Gholamreza Azari Khakestar
Machine Translation Edited by Mandana Karimi

2026-11-10

Cities are not just a collection of streets, buildings, squares, and civil engineering structures. Cities are the living narratives of people who have lived in them over time, spoken, made memories, and left a part of their identity in their alleys and squares. However, in many cases, what is known as the historical heritage of cities' past is limited to iconic buildings, official documents, and recorded events; while an important part of urban history lies in the memory of people, vernacular words, ways of speaking, and memories of the places we pass by every day.

In the meantime, urban oral history can be a new window to understand the less visible layers of the city's identity; an approach that, by recording the lived experiences of citizens, provides the opportunity to reread the past and transmit it to future generations.
Mashhad, as one of the most important cities in Iran and a city with an extensive historical and cultural background, has great potential for such research; some of which can be found in the Mashhad dialect and some in the collective memories associated with the city's squares and public spaces.

Dialect can be considered one of the important signs of linguistic and cultural identity of societies. The tone of speech, pronunciation of words, local idioms and manner of expression sometimes reveal the connection of a person with a region and cultural community. Dialect is not only a means of transmitting messages; it carries family memories, social relationships, everyday experiences and is part of the intangible heritage of each city.

Despite this importance, social changes, expanding communications, population movements, and changing cultural patterns can affect the use of local dialects. In immigrant-friendly cities, these changes may become more complex because different linguistic and cultural groups live side by side and their speech styles influence each other.

Mashhad is no exception to this rule. The expansion of the city, the change in the structure of neighborhoods, the wider connection of the new generation with the national media and cyberspace, and the possible decrease in the transmission of some local words and expressions within families, have made the issue of preserving and recording the Mashhad dialect a matter worth considering. Of course, the extent of change and decrease in the use of this dialect requires field research and examination of the speech of different generations; but this possibility highlights the necessity of its scientific and timely recording.

One of the important capacities of oral history in this regard is the recording of conversations in the natural language of the narrators. When an old citizen talks about their childhood, the market, the neighborhood, his neighborly relations, or their family memories, they are not only providing information about the past; their words, expressions, tone of voice, and manner of narration are also part of the historical document.

From this perspective, recording the Mashhad dialect should not be limited to simply collecting a few words. Recording audio narratives, talking to elders and old merchants, examining idioms common in past generations, and comparing the speech styles of different generations can help form a valuable archive of the city's linguistic heritage. Such an archive is important not only for language and culture researchers, but also for families, cultural centers, and generations who will seek to understand their roots in the future.

If we consider the dialect as the voice of a city's identity, urban squares can be considered part of its visual and social memory. A square is not simply a play space in the middle of the streets; it is a place where movement, pause, meeting, gathering, and social events find meaning. The value of a square is not only dependent on its architectural form, green space, water feature, or sculptures; what has happened in it over time and the memories it has left in the minds of citizens form an important part of its identity.

This is where the concept of “collective memory” becomes important. Citizens’ memories of places, events, rituals, and social relationships become intertwined over time, creating a shared, though not necessarily identical, image of a city’s past. A square may be a reminder of family reunions for one group, a public ceremony or political upheaval for another, and a mere transit point for a younger generation.

This difference in experiences shows that the identity of a place is not a fixed and one-dimensional phenomenon. The square becomes an identity-based place through the interaction between the physical body, human activities, and historical meanings. Therefore, any change in the structure, function, or name of a square, if made without recognizing the historical memory and experience of citizens, may diminish some of the semantic connections people have with that place.

One of the old squares in Mashhad, which is recorded in the collective memory of citizens with names such as Mojasame (Statue) Square, Shah Square, and Shohada (Martyrs) Square, is a noteworthy example for examining the relationship between place names and collective memories. Each of these names can remind a group of citizens of a specific period, an image of the city's past, or a personal and social experience.

Changing the name of a place is part of the historical and cultural evolution of a city; but changing the title should not be seen as ignoring its past. Previous names, old photographs, city documents, press reports, and citizens’ memories can all help reconstruct the history of a square.
The fundamental question is how do citizens of different generations remember this square? What image does each name create in their minds? What events have given meaning to this place, and to what extent do its physical developments correspond with people’s memories and perceptions of the square’s identity?

The answers to these questions cannot be obtained simply by observing the current state of the square. To understand it more accurately, one must listen to the stories of long-time residents, merchants, passersby, and people who have been associated with this place at different times. These stories can then be matched with photographs, maps, and archival documents to obtain a more documented picture of the square's transformations and its place in the city's memory.

Oral History: A Bridge Between the Past and the Future

Mashhad dialect and memories of urban squares are seemingly two different subjects, but they share one fundamental point: both carry parts of the city's identity that may become less visible or gradually out of reach of future generations during social and physical changes.

Oral history can bridge these two fields. Just as a narrator’s voice can record forgotten words and phrases, the same person’s account of a square, street, or neighborhood can reveal layers of a city’s social history. In this way, oral history interviews are not simply reminiscences; if accompanied by the scientific method, careful questioning, recording of background information, and matching with documents, they become valuable resources for studying a city’s past.

Of course, we should not forget that people's memories may be incomplete, different, or influenced by personal experiences. Therefore, recording diverse narratives and comparing them with written and visual sources is a fundamental necessity in oral history research. Also, respecting the informed consent of the narrators, and being clear about the way in which interviews are kept and published, is an integral part of this process.

Mashhad needs a coherent program to preserve this heritage; one in which cultural and research institutions, academic centers, city administration, local media, and citizens can play a role together.
Creating a digital archive of the city’s oral history, recording the narratives of different generations, collecting old images of neighborhoods and squares, documenting local words and phrases, and compiling historical files for urban spaces can be practical steps in this direction. These activities will be effective when they go beyond sporadic efforts and become an ongoing project with a specific methodology, appropriate research access, and a plan to communicate the results to the public.

Local media also have an important role to play in this regard. Publishing documented accounts of citizens' lives, introducing local words, retelling the history of squares and neighborhoods, and comparing images of the city's past and present can take urban history out of the limited space of specialized research and make it part of the public discourse of society.

Ultimately, preserving a city’s identity is not just about preserving historic buildings or beautifying public spaces. The city also needs its own memory, a memory that lives on in the language of its people, in the names of places, in the memories of generations, and in their shared experiences. If we do not act today to record these narratives, tomorrow we may only have scattered traces of a world that was once an integral part of its citizens’ daily lives.

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