Oral History: A Complementary Approach in Historical Studies
Iranian Oral History Website
Translated by: Zahra Hosseinian
2020-6-9
"Month News" is the title of a series of reports on Oral History website. These reports take a look at news related to the subject of the site in the print and virtual media. In the following, you will read the news of April-May 2020.
- The head of Culture and Resistance Studies Department of Qom Hozeh Honari announced the preparation and publication of 7 books on the oral history of revolution and sacred defense in Qom. Referring to the purpose of establishing Culture and Resistance Studies Department of Hozeh Honari in province, Reza Yazdani said that Qom city, as a base of jurisprudence and seminary, has played a significant role in the formation of the Islamic Revolution. Therefore, dealing with the history of the Islamic Revolution, regardless of the history of Qom, is an unfinished one.
- In April 22, in a joint meeting of the Coordinating Council of Foundation for Preserving and Publishing Sacred Defense Works and Values and the Council for Promotion and Development of Culture of Sacrifice and Martyrdom, the governor-general of Gilan, Arsalan Zare, said that collecting the oral history of Sacred Defense Days should not be neglected, pointing out that the era of sacred defense is a symbol of prudence, resistance and wisdom.
- In a meeting with members of Bushehr Islamic Advertizement Coordinating Council, Omid Parsaeifar, head of Bushehr Islamic Revolution Hozeh Honari, stated that discovering young talents in the field of culture and art of Islamic Revolution, training these talented ones and providing educational facility for them, and producing works of artists in accordance with strategic document of Hozeh Honari are three important missions of this organization. He stressed that oral history of Islamic Revolution and Sacred Defense in Hozeh Honari is being seriously pursued, and that its books and films will be published soon.
- The head of the Rehnan Bath Museum announced the compilation of The Oral History of Isfahan Religious Boards, and declared that in this project, we have collected the history of elders, benefactors, neighborhood martyrs and their neighborhood history from local historiography, in addition to the oral history of religious boards.
- The 29th of April has been recorded as the National Day of Persian Gulf in Iranian calendar, and on this occasion, Sepas News Agency has held a roundtable discussion with three historical and political figures of Bushehr province about the importance and impact of the Persian Gulf. In this interview, Hassan Allahyari, a professor at Persian Gulf University in Bushehr, emphasized on the methodological change in recognizing the global identity of the Persian Gulf; and then added that one of the best things to do is to compile Persian Gulf history based on oral history method.
- The information base of Lorestan Foundation of Martyrs and Veterans Affairs announced that the oral history program of interviewing with parents of martyrs, entitled "Document of Honor" and a joint work of Foundation of Martyrs and Veterans Affairs and Aflak Broadcasting, which has been prepared to record the memories of martyrs’ parents, is broadcasted at even days before the Maghrib Adhan.
- Referring to the importance of compiling the oral history of warriors during the Sacred Defense, Colonel Amir Abbas Asmand, Director General of Foundation for Preserving and Publishing Sacred Defense Works and Values in Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad, said that in compiling oral history, we should interview with martyrs and veterans who have remained unknown. Asmand also demanded the widespread distribution of audio books, produced by General Directorate of Foundation for Preserving and Publishing Sacred Defense Works and Values in Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad, in cyberspace, radio and television, and so on.
- In a note entitled "Coronavirus, Understanding Today and the Efficiency of Oral History", Seyyed Abolfazl Razavi, an associate professor of history at Kharazmi University, has written that expert, hardworking and courageous researchers have entered the field of oral history. Although, some of these people are not history graduates, but the same few elites and historians who have grown up in this field in the light of personal interest and the pursuit of methodical necessity, have established the position of oral history and proved its necessity as a complementary approach in the study of historical history.
- Noting that a lot of research has been done by the department on the subject of sacred defense in researching, identifying, collecting and compiling various works and spreading the culture and history of sacred defense based on the bravery of the warriors, Director General of Foundation for Preserving and Publishing Sacred Defense Works and Values in Zanjan, added that in this regard, documents related to the wills of the martyrs, photos, manuscripts, etc. have been collected. He said that earlier, seven books on the oral history of commanders and fighters of Zanjan have been published, while pointing to the collection of memoirs of IRGC’s retired Khalil Abu Basir.
- In an interview with Jomhuri Eslami News Agency, the Director of Literature of General Directorate of Preserving and Publishing Sacred Defense Works and Values in Semnan stated that 36 audio and written books in various fields such as memory, story, poetry, research, analysis and oral history have been published in 2019 by this department.
- Tasnim reported that the 16th Policy Council Meeting of the Oral History of Iranian Sports was held at the National Olympic Committee, chaired by Seyyed Reza Salehi Amiri, chairman of the Committee and attended by the council members.
- The Projectionist, which has researched and compiled by Ruhollah Rashidi in the form of oral history, focusing on the life and activities of Jalil Taifi, one of the first cultural activists in the revolution has been recently published by Rahyar Publications. The significance of recording the first cultural activities in the revolution and few books which has been compiled by Ruhollah Rashidi on this subject, have motivated Quds Online to have a conversation with him, in order to hear his speeches about the importance of these memories and the state of oral history.
- In May 9, the oral history meeting of the Cultural Center and Museum of Sacred Defense in Hamadan was held in the presence of Commander "Mehdi Zafari", Director General of Foundation for Preserving and Publishing Sacred Defense Works and Values. In this meeting, Commander Zafari stated that Shahid Hamedani, Shahid Shamsipour, Commander Hamid Hesam and Qasem Artimani are among the people who have played an important role in establishing this cultural center and the Sacred Defense Museum.
- Director General of National Library and Achieves in Yazd proclaimed that this organization is responsible for three main tasks of archives, library and oral history and each section pursues its duties nationally and provincially. Pointing to the importance of recording oral history in society, Pakatint said that fortunately, 296 people in Yazd have been interviewed for oral history so far.
- Since last year, instead of holding stereotyped events, the municipality of district 4 in Isfahan has preferred to follow the oral history project of the neighborhoods and provide the results to everyone in the form of writing, pictures and videos. It is a commendable attempt that, if extended to all urban areas, will lead to citizens' knowledge of their surroundings and provide them with the information they need to participate in important events such as the development of a comprehensive urban plan.
- On May 11, 2020, the first meeting of the Committee for ‘Education, Research, Archives and Documents of Sacred Defense’ in Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad was held in Yasouj University's meeting hall, with the agenda of proposed programs of the 40th anniversary of the Sacred Defense and presenting the executor’s work report of the provincial encyclopedia of sacred defense project. Referring to the importance of compiling oral history of Sacred Defense, Colonel "Amir Abbas Asmand", Director General of Foundation for Preserving and Publishing Sacred Defense Works and Values in Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad, proclaimed that this project has started since previous years to explain the role of warriors of the province in the Sacred Defense.
- Director General of Foundation for Preserving and Publishing Sacred Defense Works and Values in Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad announced that as this year coincides with the 40th anniversary of the Sacred Defense, it was decided that on the occasion of the 40th anniversary of the Sacred Defense, the oral history of 40 fighters of the province will be collected in the form of 500 hours interview.
- The head of Museum of the Qasr Prison has announced the oral history of "Ramadan in the Qasr" is being produced. According to ISNA, citing the public relations of the Museum of the Qasr Prison, Hojjatullah Farhangi announced the news and added that the documentary is being shot at the Museum of Political Prison by presence of pre-revolutionary political prisoners who had been jailed in Qasr Prison.
- Under the pretext of publishing Pahlouneshin, Iran Book News Agency (IBNA) has interviewed with Fatemeh Dolati, its writer. In this conversation, she mentioned that oral history complements written history and can reveal angles of history of events and people that have been hidden to this day.
- In a note published by ILNA, Ali Heydari, a member and deputy chairman of the board of directors of the Social Security Organization, has explained the necessity of documenting oral history of social security and collection of documents.
- Dr. Mohammad Mehdi Tehranchi, President of Islamic Azad University, in a letter to Namvar Motlagh, Head of Islamic Azad University, Professor Farshchian Islamic-Iranian Arts Branch, pointed out that based on the executive procedure of this branch about research on the views, works and experiences of artists and Islamic-Iranian arts, documentation and celebrating artistic works, and given the importance and necessity of recording and compiling oral history of Islamic-Iranian arts and folk arts, writing of chronicles and memoirs should be conducted.
- Stating that the plan to register the oral history of the clergy in the province has begun, Commander Abbas Yousefi, Director General of Foundation for Preserving and Publishing Sacred Defense Works and Values in Khuzestan, said that activities such as supporting the compilation and recording of the oral history of the province's clergy in the sacred defense, supporting the holding of the memorial of the province's clergy martyrs in the sacred defense, explaining and formulating the political ideological role of the province's armed forces in the sacred defense will be done by clergy branch of the Foundation.
- In the unveiling the document of improving the situation of women and family in Urmia, Masoumeh Ebtekar has stated that the empowerment of rural women in the issues of rural micro-funds, recording the oral history of Sacrificer women, promoting the social resilience, paying employment facilities for household headship women, and providing skills training for these women in West Azerbaijan should be taken into account.
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