The News of Month; April 2020

"Oral history in cyberspace"

Compiled by: Iranian Oral History website
Translated by: Fazel Shirzad

2020-4-28

Note: According to Iranian Oral History website, "The News of Month" is the title of a series of reports on this website. These reports take a look at news related to the subject of site in the written and cyber media. In the following, you will read the news about April 2020.

►The Office of Culture and Sustainability Studies of Qom’s[1] Arts Center has published a text entitled "Corona's Dry Cough" with the aim of recording the memories of Corona activists. In this text, those people of Qom who are present in jihadist activities in the field of fighting against corona virus in the form of jihadi groups or individually, has been invited to cooperate to record their memories by Qom’s Office of Culture and Sustainability Studies.

► In an interview with Mehr News Agency, Mehdi Elahifard, author and researcher of the oral history of North Khorasan, suggested to spend the days of Corona's home quarantine by studying the oral history of North Khorasan. He has been writing extensively since 2009 and has authored 17 books.

►In a written defense of Dr. Hibatullah Maleki, Ettihad Khabar (The News of Union) website, mentioned his role as a compiler of a treasure of Iranian oral history and a collection of documents in the book "Dashtestan and Ghazanfar Al-Saltanah Borazjani" and he emphasized that he has been able to shed light on the facts, subtleties and dark corners of the history of Dashtestan and has put a light in front of future generations.

►The Director General of Preservation of Works and Publication of Sacred Defense’s Values in Yazd, told IRNA that last year 30 books were published by 12 authors, including memoirs, narrations, oral history, biographies and manuscripts of Islamic fighters. Colonel Mansour Zare added that each title of the book has been published with 2,000 copies with the help and support of warriors, self-sacrificing people and the families of martyrs.

►The news website "The Mine of News" has produced and broadcasted a series of video programs called "Inquiry" in the form of an open conversation with the Iran's managers of mine and metal. The first part of this program is a conversation with Mehdi Karbasian, former chairman of Imidro’s board of directors.

► On the occasion of arrival of Islamic Revolution Art Week and the days of the martyrdom of Seyed Morteza Avini, this year, The Office of Culture and Sustainability Studies of Alborz’s Art Center has held a cyber-workshop on "Oral History and Future" online, on April 10 and 17, due to the situation of Corona disease in the country and the impossibility of holding in-person activities.

► the Cyber workshop "Principles of Oral History" was held In Hamedan, with the teaching of Mohammad Ghasemi and the help of the Culture and Sustainability Studies Office of this province's Art Center, on the occasion of Revolution Art Week on April 18.

►On the occasion of the birthday of Mohammad Ali Keshavarz, a veteran artist of cinema, theater and television, Anna News Agency has published a corner of the oral history of Iranian cinema, which has been prepared and produced by the Museum of Cinema and Narrator of Keshavarz.

►Iran Book News Agency (IBNA) has conducted an interview with Fariba Anisi, a writer in the field of sacred defense. Announcing the publication of the book "Touba", which is related to the biography of Touba Kermani, she said that women have not been considered as much as their prominent role in sacred defense; What has been highlighted is supportive management, which is an important factor in changing the fate of imposed war to  Iran's advantage..

►In an interview with Tabas News, the head of the Tabas Municipality Culture House said that in order to fulfill its social responsibility, the group intends to record and publish the memories of dear Tabas’s citizens from the time of fight against the corona virus.

►In an interview with Iran Online, Mohammad Ali Asoudi, Brigadier General of the Revolutionary Guards, described the process of holding the 15th Book Selection Festival of Year of the Guards who are writers, and stated some aspects of the festival of Revolutionary Guards in choosing the best book of year such as Historical research works in the field of Islamic Revolution and Sacred Defense and Resistance, Oral History of Islamic Revolution, sacred Defense and Resistance, Memory, Biography of Martyrs, Story, Novel, Cultural and Social Belief, Soft War and Resistance Economy, Jihadi, Political, Security and Defense Management , Medical and paramedical, technical and engineering, and translation in other languages.

► The plan of "Oral History of the Museum of Anthropology", which was prepared according to the priorities of the Ministry of Cultural Heritage, Tourism and Handicrafts and the practical needs of the country, according to the native and original culture of the people, has been completed. Alireza Hassanzadeh, head of Anthropological Research Institute, announced the news:" The plan has been completed with the efforts of Minoo Salimi and Maryam Pahlavan Sharif, members of the Anthropological Research Institute; it is ready for publication."

►Shafiqeh Niknaffas, the head of Documents Organization and Iranian National Library’s Oral history has retired. In addition directing the Oral History Office of Documentation Organization, Niknaffas has been one of policy makers, judges and writers in most of oral history conferences in Iran. Some eesearchers from his classrooms and workshops have entered the field of oral history. One of the books he compiled He is "letters of time" (Nusratullah Khazani's memoirs).

► Lorestan’s writer, Amin Kiani, said about the weaknesses of writing in the field of sacred defense:" One challenge and weakness in this area is the insistence on self-censorship. Many subjects are involved in self-censorship and do not share some memories; another issue is that memoirs are combined with oral history.