Czech Repoblic Oral History Center, Prague



18 July 2011

Miroslav Vanek (right) interviewing Miloš Jakeš, former General Secretary of the Czechoslovak Communist Party (1987-89).

The Oral History Centre (COH) was established in 2000 as a research department of the Institute of Contemporary History, Czech Academy of Science in Prague. It is led by Miroslav Vanek, president of the Czech Oral History Association (COHA), recently elected president of the International Oral History Association (IOHA) for 2010–2012, and non-official ‘guru’ of Czech oral history. Pavel Mücke, senior researcher, at the Oral History Centre, provides an overview of the centre’s work as it continues into its second decade.

‘To date, the centre has transcribed, digitised and archived some 700 interviews through various projects, financed mainly by the Czech Grant Agency and Grant Agency of Czech Academy of Sciences. The collection is varied, including interviews with university students today, those who were part of the “youth generation” in the 1980s, communist elites and dissidents, Czech emigrants and reemigrants, and with workers and intelligentsia class members from 1970s and 1980s. ‘The COH has recently received funding by the Czech Grant Agency for a further oral history project (2011-2015). The project aims to document the everyday life of people before and after 1989. The focus will be on members of the following groups: white collar workers, representatives of the financial sector, people employed in the agrarian sector and members of the armed forces of the state (soldiers, security, police and firemen). The outputs should contribute to the knowledge of the nature and specifics of the normalization regime and later democratic transformation.

‘The grant will support the collection of a further 150 interviews, to enhance the existing COH’s collection. The aim is to then analyse the whole collection of 850 interviews as offering a specific perspective on Czech and Czechoslovakian society during the last forty years. ‘The growing popularity of using interviews to interpret the past is an exciting moment. It is important however that oral history is not used to politicise history by prioritising the stories of certain individuals. In current times in the Czech Republic we are witnessing a great return of ideology and forced attempts to limit academic and scientific freedom. We believe the best response is a social science research project, based on methodologically sound oral history, undertaken in a transparent, non-ideological way, with a focus on dissemination and educational activities.’ l For more information on the COH please contact Pavel Mücke, mucke@usd.cas.cz or visit the website at www.coh.usd.cas.cz

Source: International News Section of UK's Oral History Journal, Spring 2011



 
Number of Visits: 5494


Comments

 
Full Name:
Email:
Comment:
 
Reza in Revolution

Memoirs of Hujjat al-Islam Reza Motalebi

Hujjat al-Islam Reza Motalebi is a cleric from Isfahan. Before the revolution, he was the imam of the Fallah Mosque – which was later renamed Abuzar Mosque. By his presence and efforts, Abuzar Mosque soon became a base for supporters of the Imam and the revolution. After the victory of the revolution, he played a role in uniting forces and maintaining political vitality in southwest Tehran.

The Necessity of Receiving Feedback in Oral History

Whenever we engage in a task, we naturally seek ways to evaluate our performance — to correct shortcomings and enhance strengths. Such refinement is only possible through the feedback we receive from others. Consider, for instance, a basketball player whose shots are consistently accurate; should he begin shooting blindfolded, his success rate would rapidly decline, as he would be deprived of essential feedback from each attempt.
Book Review

Sir Saeed

The book “Sir Saeed” is a documentary [narrative] of the life of martyr Seyyed Mohammad Saeed Jafari, written by Mohammad Mehdi Hemmati and published by Rahiyar Publications. In March 2024, this book was recognized as one of the selected documentary biographies in the 21st edition of the Sacred Defense Book of the Year Award. The following text is a review on the mentioned book.

Morteza Tavakoli Narrates Student Activities

I am from Isfahan, born in 1336 (1957). I entered Mashhad University with a bag of fiery feelings and a desire for rights and freedom. Less than three months into the academic year, I was arrested in Azar 1355 (November 1976), or perhaps in 1354 (1975). I was detained for about 35 days. The reason for my arrest was that we gathered like-minded students in the Faculty of Literature on 16th of Azar ...