Partiality for oral history
Morteza Nouraee (PhD)
Translated by: Fazel Shirzad
2017-12-19
Note: One of the basic issues[1] for historians is to focus on mechanisms that make less Partiality for historiography as much as possible. Partiality (fanaticism) for historical research is one of pitfalls that disturb the truth-based axioms and bring countless outcomes. As a consequence, this phenomenon is problematic in all aspects of chronicles.
In oral history, Partiality is focused on the process. In other words, each stage (question package, interview and compilation) is being done impartially during the the work, the place of assessment in the field of writing and observing in oral history. In this way, it can be supposed that this fundamental question is also posed to oral historians: How much interview can be Impartial? Here, therefore, the question is: who is the historian? Who is interviewer or interviewee? Undoubtedly, interview is a common product formed by two sides of the interview during the conversation. Although interviewer advances this process with a designated program as an engineer, but the accompaniment of the interviewer or narrator forms the main content. Therefore, it can be noted that the partiality has two-side situation that can be used to discuss in this field for pathology and avoid it:
- As the questions form answers and they are extracting the raw material for using in history, the interviewer must always prepare the pre-planned questions and lead the interview in an unexpected way. In this regard, transition from set questions to a conversation that help to remember past memoirs out of partiality has priority. Could you differentiate between the current sense and the memories? How much being active and passive of interviewer and interviewee can be understand?
- During the interview, interviewer, through direct or indirect imposition of cultural assumptions and political views, can draw the result of his work and influenced his own tendencies.
- On the other hand, the interpretation of the interview is not confined to the interviewer because the interviewees are constantly presenting a new description and analyzing their motivations and actions; they remember and explain newly.
- Generally, it can be said that there are two groups of active interviewers in oral history that each have their own vulnerabilities in partiality issues:" a: Archival Interviewers: these interviewers do interview to archive some works to be used by other scholars. It is commonly said that this group of interviewers should have fewer partiality and conduct interviews on the circuit of balance. Because they have no personal benefit in any interpretation, and their products are, in fact, raw materials. At the same time, the existence of archives with stated purposes is being constantly accused of partiality. b: Independent interviewers; usually, this group of interviewers conducts interviews for their own researches, they try to interpret and compile them; it is said that these interpretations are not free of bias. In addition, the status of verification of their interview's documentations can be a point of ambiguity. These ambiguities are usually seen in the way of partiality."
- "Sometimes we go to do interview, but we are being interviewed", which means that because of the position and personality of the interviewee, especially politicians who has deep personality, they tell "anti-memoirs" at all times. Self-discipline in actions and in retelling memories leads to magnification or ennoblement for the interviewee; it should not go unnoticed in the eyes of the interviewer. By mastering of this point, the interview may be come to main direction several times by different mechanisms.
[1] Dr. Morteza Nouraee, the Professor of History at the University of Isfahan, and the President of the Iranian Local History Society, has written this notes at the University of Sofia in Bulgaria on Azar 16, 1396 (December, 7, 2017) and has sent to the Oral History Association.
Number of Visits: 4590








The latest
- 365th Night of Memory – 3
- Narrated by Gholamhossein Bashardoust
- Da (Mother) 137
- The Revolutionary Teacher; The Pro-Shah Schoolmaster
- 365th Night of Memory – 2
- A story of the patience of a veteran who is still standing
- Two Memoirs from Ahvaz’s Educational Mentors Regarding the Ten-Day Fajr ceremony
- Da (Mother) 136
Most visited
- Imam Musa Sadr position about Iran
- Oral History News – Dey 1403 (December 2024 - January 2025)
- Da (Mother) 136
- 365th Night of Memory – 2
- A story of the patience of a veteran who is still standing
- Two Memoirs from Ahvaz’s Educational Mentors Regarding the Ten-Day Fajr ceremony
- The Revolutionary Teacher; The Pro-Shah Schoolmaster
- Da (Mother) 137
Minister of Health Praises the Prestigious Sadr Family
The book War and State in the Memoirs of Seyyed Mohammad Sadr, authored by Mohammad Qobadi and published by Sooreh Mehr, was officially unveiled at the The Artistic Sect of the Islamic Republic. According to the Sooreh Mehr Publishing website, this event was attended by Mohammadreza Zafarghandi, Minister of Health, Treatment, and Medical Education;“Oral history of art” should move toward producing documentaries
According to Iranian Oral History website, the preliminary workshop of “Oral History of Art” was held online before the national conference “Iranian Theories of Historiography and Art” on Wednesday 21st of Azar 1403 (December 11, 2024) by the Art Research Institute of the Art Cultural Center. During the event, “Dr. Morteza Nouraee” the professor of the History Group of Isfahan University delivered a speech.Benefits of Oral History
History, as one of the fundamental disciplines within the humanities, has evolved through time to adopt various forms and methodologies. Concepts such as "written history," "comprehensive history," and "oral history" exemplify these approaches. Written history relies on documents and textual sources for the analysis and composition of historical accounts, while comprehensive history seeks to integrate various sources—both written and oral.The Hidden Camp
The Hidden Camp narrates the autobiographical memoirs of Mohammad Hassan Mirzaei, recounting his experiences from managing Iraqi POW camps to enduring captivity in Iranian POW camps. This work, rewritten and compiled by Meysam Gholampour, was published in the summer of 2024 by Mirath-e Ahl-e Qalam Publications in collaboration with the Damavand Martyrs Foundation.
