Effective Factors in Compilation of Iranian Oral History

Abolfazl Hassan Abadi (PhD)
Translated by: Natalie Haghverdian

2015-11-23

Compilation is one of the key routs of dissemination of interviews and information in oral history. Study of published books on oral history indicate that so far many books have been published on methods of conducting oral history and its practical standards globally however there are no significant books on methods of compilation of oral history and the only one is Transcribing and Editing Oral History[1] which has briefly targeted the concept. The question is that despite publication of many books on principles and methodology of oral history and even on interdisciplinary and quality studies, why this important aspect has been ignored? Is it due to lack of consensus on methods of compilation? Is it due to the broad field of oral history application which compromises interest in compilation standards? Is it possible to define standards for compilation of oral history?

A performance review of oral history institutes with regards to compilation and publication of books in the last three decades indicate that factor including objectives, policies, time requirements and preference of interviewers and compilers have direct impact on the form and compilation of such productions.

Of effective factors on compilation of oral history, needs and interest of institutions and individuals are to be mentioned. Intention orientation in compilation reflect the objectives of oral history institutions, political policies, specific methods of interviewer selection and publication and distribution policy and eventually selection of special compilers and their intention, especially in individuals or non-governmental institutions who attempt to publish oral history books on their own cost.

Along with individual and administrative intentions in compilation, types of interview and methodologies have direct effect on the outcomes. Free or conditioned interviews, individual and project interviews and methods of presenting questions affect probable outcomes.

Of the effective factors on compilation which has less been paid attention to is selection of the oral history book compiler. Is it the duty of the interviewer or professional compiler to compile oral history books? How committed the interviewer is to complete the information? Does an oral history interviewer have to think about its compilation in the future? Moreover, selection of a compiler other than the interviewee is a controversial issue in compilation of oral history. Concepts such as local or external compiler, military or civilian, or professional are effective in the form and methodology of the whole process.

Review of oral history books indicate that some of them suffer issues such as week documentation, pure narrative structure, naïve and incomplete introduction and limited data on methodology, interview and research approaches and compilation techniques. The fact is that in the current situation, compiled books are still dealing with challenges such as question design, indication of year, conceptualization, revision, minor or major modifications, literary writing and historical writing, factual writing, simple writing, advocacy writing, rhyme writing, level of emotional involvement, case writing, concept writing, detail approach, credibility in compilation of oral history, moralities, edit and modification of mutual reliable factors.

Considering that oral history was established three decades ago in Iran and many books have been compiled based on oral history interviews, presence of professional compilers, publication of guideline books on oral history projects and technical meetings in this field- of which only one focused on oral history – and considering the importance of oral history as a key tool to transfer Islamic Revolution Culture and Imposed War, provision of compilation standards is of crucial necessity. Despite extensive application of oral history, there is the need to provide minimum standards based on the experiences of professional compilers and oral history experts to prevent the current void in compiled books.