نشریه تاریخ شفاهی
سال سیزدهم شماره 2 (پیاپی 11، پاییز و زمستان 1400)

This article is the 4th one from the whole 39 articles presented in “The Oral History Reader”, a specialized resource in oral history discourse. It was published by Routledge in 1998, simultaneously in England, USA and Canada, then republished in 2003 and 2015. Being authored by specialist researchers, the articles included in this book discuss some issues in oral history discourse such as: oral history development, methods of interview, conditions of oral history in contemporary historiography as well as stand for oral history projects, only a few of which have been translated to Persian. Ronald J. Grele, is the director of Oral History Research Office in Columbia University. He mentions some of the advantages and disadvantages of oral history methodology in this article, and discusses its use within historical research discourse. The author also reviews the criticism faced by oral history approaches, and gives some recommendations to the oral historians in order to overcome the constructive criticisms, qualify the oral history projects, and also encourage the historians to trust oral history outcomes.

This article is the 30th one from the whole 39 articles presented in “The Oral History Reader” (ed. by Robert Perks and Alistair Thomson), a specialized resource in oral history discourse. Despite the fact that more than 2 decades had passed since the publication of this book by Routledge in 1998, This is why the book was republished in 2006 and 2015, and the e-version was released in 2003. The book is divided into five sections with advances in Critical developments, interviewing, advocacy and empowerment, interpreting memories and Making histories. In ‘Archival science and oral sources’ (That was first published in 1996) Jean-Pierre Wallot and Norman Fortier seem to be attempting to familiarize the audience with oral history and archives, in general. In their article, they wrote the entry of oral history into the archives in the 21st-century and predicted the expansion of this field of study, and pleaded from archives to welcome oral history. They have been paying close attention to archival scholar’s view about oral history into the archival realm at the time they penned the article and link it to the previous conceptions of orality.

Oral history is basically going to those who have something to say but no pen to write. In my research project on the history of water and sewage in Isfahan, after studying the history of the organization from documents and the press, I went to the managers of that organization and informants about that organization and a chapter of my work to the "oral history" of the organization. I allocated water and sewage to Isfahan. In using the oral history, I came across data and minutes that were not mentioned in books, documents, or the press. In the meantime, I also gained experiences, the most important of which are discussed here. The most important of these experiences is that the organizational historian needs to have reached a desirable level of information and data about the history of the organization and to be able to use this data in interviews and oral history. The suggestion presented in this article is that the organizational historian should be invited from outside the organization. This historian will not include unnecessary considerations and expediencies in his work.

After the victory of the Islamic Revolution in Iran, new principles in internal and external relations became important. Although the implementation of these principles internally was faced with obstacles and the lack of proper structures such as inexperienced and unstructured staff, the lack of a clear definition, etc., it also faced serious opposition abroad; because a discourse was being planned and expanded that contrasts the interests of some countries. 20 months after the victory of the revolution, Saddam's attack on Iran began and caused an 8-year war that was full of various incidents and many ups and downs. The experience of Holy Defense can be a solution to many big and small issues in the country. The culture of self-sacrifice and martyrdom is one of the basic concepts of the era of Holy Defense and includes a variety of topics. This article attempts to examine the role of oral history and the necessity of explaining the values and culture of sacrifice in defense of the future generation. In this research, information has been collected using documents in a library manner, and to analyze the data, a descriptive-analytical method has been used.

The importance of describing the metadata of oral history sources, based on the evolutionary cycle of oral history, to facilitate information retrieval and analysis of data from interviews based on this research method.

The need to create metadata in oral history and types of metadata in this field was explained referring to library resources and metadata tools and standards were explained.

The growing use of technologies to analyze interviews and recognize historical facts has necessitated the creation of metadata for these resources. Structured and machine-readable metadata in oral history, while facilitating data access, improve the management of oral history collections. Metadata description of oral history resources is conducted before and beginning the interview until the resources are uploaded on the web pages. Formed metadata in accordance with the developmental cycle of oral history provides researchers with the necessary tools to analyze the content of interviews. The extent to which the types of oral history metadata are used varies according to the components of the oral history development cycle. It is necessary for oral historians to be directed more toward the use of tools and standards for creating metadata.

Oral history is one of the new ways of collecting and compiling historical events, which is based on interviews and discovering hidden and unsaid angles from the words of witnesses and informants. In recent years, many works have been produced and published in the Jihadi movement through the efforts of some activists in the field of Holy Defense using this method. Criticizing and surveying these works help in recognizing the weak and strong points, making corrections, and strengthening the oral history plans. The purpose of this article is to criticize the book Guerrillas of Davar (oral memoirs of Colonel Abbas Davar) using the analytical method from the perspective of interviews and compilation. The results of the research show that the design and type of questions asked of the interviewee, not addressing the details of the events, not respecting the chronological order, the literal translation of the interview text from Azari to Farsi, and the unfamiliarity of the expressions used are among the most important content challenges of this work. In this article, along with criticism, weaknesses and shortcomings, solutions and suggestions have also been presented and reviewed.

-Considering the important function of oral history in the contemporary era, the interview also plays a special role. Many works related to the Holy Defense oral history have been published, which are a collection of memories of warriors and martyrs. The interviewer and the narrator are facing challenges that are the purpose of this research. The research is library-based and descriptive-analytical, and the findings indicate that both the narrator and the interviewer play an important role in a successful interview. The narrator is aware of the role he plays in the narration of contemporary oral history and knows that his narrations are evaluated and judged. So, it is natural that he tries to tell a narrative that is close to reality and far from prejudice. By directing the interview and controlling it in all aspects, the interviewer tries to have an interview with precise and regular events.

Teshneh Dar Atash is the title of Hoshang Abdi's memoirs, one of the veterans of the Holy Defense era, written by Javad Mosheth. This book is a sub-series of memoirs of the Holy Defense that tells the biography of the narrator from birth to the victory of the Islamic revolution and the beginning of the imposed war. Oral history is a systematic and informed conversation between two people, which is formed about aspects of past events. This dialogue between the historian and the interviewee should be able to fill the gaps of history in the context of the subject. One of the reasons that usually make oral history readable and attractive is a different reading and representation of past events, through which the other side of history is heard, seen, and read. With the assumption that Teshneh Dar Atash is an example of oral history, the researcher analyzed and expressed the characteristics of the oral history of the Holy Defense in this book and came to the conclusion that the interviewer, by choosing the topic and directing the interview and writing, turned the historiography into a work with literary values. The way the interview was conducted, the events were depicted, the documents and photos were cited, the real names, times, and places were mentioned, the narrator's mental states were expressed, and the sense of identification created a worthy work. Knowing the history of the war, the author created the personal memory of the narrator along with the objective reality in order to provide a correct reflection of the events of the Holy Defense.

Today, the entry of oral history into the field of historiography in many scientific and research centers of the world has opened a new perspective for historians and researchers. With the introduction of oral history, an opportunity was obtained to look at the issues, events, incidents, and historical phenomena and their hidden and evident angles from a new perspective. Oral history is a technique and method that records the memories, observations, and hearings of the agent (director, performer, and actor) or witness of a scene and historical event using tools such as audio recorders and video cameras (audio and video in the form of a conversation. In order to better use this scientific and efficient method, it is necessary to know it so that it can be used optimally. Oral history, by its nature, has necessities and limitations, which are reviewed in this article using library data and descriptive-analytical methods.

This research examines the role of self-written memoirs in the development and compilation of the Holy Defense oral history. The article is practical and qualitative. The content analysis method has been used through the documentary method by examining the texts available in books, articles, and research. Considering that the untold history of the Holy Defense is locked in the chest of many warriors, it is necessary to record this part of the history of the eight-year battle by creating a suitable space and using the simplest method in the form of self-written memoirs. Exploiting self-written memoirs of the Holy Defense is a new way of recording the oral history of the war. Writing memoirs in different ways has a long history in the history and culture of Iran. In recent years, the old tradition of memoir writing has been popularized in various forms. Some experts also apply the title of oral history to different types of memories. Therefore, knowledge of memory and oral history is necessary for comparative analysis and analytical comparison. Our question in this article is, what is the role of recording self-written memories in the development of the Holy Defense oral history? Self-written memoirs can be an introduction for the interviewer to receive the subject of oral history from the narrator and determine the oral history through interviewing and questioning. Self-written memoirs can play a fundamental and vital role in the development of the Holy Defense oral history. Memoirs and oral history have similar appearances, but they are different. Due to the closeness of memory and oral history, researchers do not distinguish between the two, while their principles and methods are different.