Evaluation of oral histories and life stories
Oral histories and life stories, as specific “documents of life” (K. Plummer) and narrative forms, have hybrid genre structure, a particular relation to reality, and the process of their evaluation poses different methodological questions. The use of oral histories and life stories as resou...
Main Author: | |
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Format: | Article |
Language: | English |
Published: |
Institute of Ethnography, SASA, Belgrade
2018-01-01
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Series: | Glasnik Etnografskog Instituta SANU |
Subjects: | |
Online Access: | http://www.doiserbia.nb.rs/img/doi/0350-0861/2018/0350-08611802319P.pdf |
Summary: | Oral histories and life stories, as specific “documents of life” (K. Plummer)
and narrative forms, have hybrid genre structure, a particular relation to
reality, and the process of their evaluation poses different methodological
questions. The use of oral histories and life stories as resources and
evidence is especially complex issue. These texts are subjective with regard
to reconstruction of memories and construction of narratives, as well as
intersubjective and dialogical, considering that they are created
collaboratively by the interviewee and the interviewer, starting from the
conceptualisation of the interview up to its interpretation. The paper
discusses the criteria for validity and reliability in oral histories and
life stories, which concern advantages and limitations of a field interview
(i.e. oral history and life story method), and aspects of constructing
narrative identity in oral history and life story interview. The interview is
considered to be a form of a heuristic collaboration between interviewer and
interviewee, with their shared authority in a dialogue. However, there can be
certain methodological limitations regarding, for example, conduction of an
interview, relation between participants in a research, interpretation of
data, influence of a particular context, employment of specific narrative or
linguistic conventions in the construction of narration, and they may affect
evaluation. In the final section the importance and forms of evaluation in
narrating is discussed. Relaying on sociolinguistic and narrative analysis
studies, some characteristic evaluating techniques in narratives are
outlined, and also the way how evaluation is connected with other components
of the content and the structure of a narrative. [Project of the Serbian
Ministry of Education, Science and Technological Development, Grant no.
178010: Jezik, folklor i migracije na Balkanu] |
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ISSN: | 0350-0861 2334-8259 |