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...
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Institute of Ethnography, SASA, Belgrade
2018-01-01
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doaj-2b54ddeb149c4758aeb1ac3b3da96c442021-01-02T09:03:18ZengInstitute of Ethnography, SASA, BelgradeGlasnik Etnografskog Instituta SANU0350-08612334-82592018-01-0166231933110.2298/GEI1802319P0350-08611802319PEvaluation of oral histories and life storiesPetrović Sonja0Filološki fakultet, BeogradOral 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]http://www.doiserbia.nb.rs/img/doi/0350-0861/2018/0350-08611802319P.pdforal historylife storiesinterviewevaluationvaliditynarrative |
collection |
DOAJ |
language |
English |
format |
Article |
sources |
DOAJ |
author |
Petrović Sonja |
spellingShingle |
Petrović Sonja Evaluation of oral histories and life stories Glasnik Etnografskog Instituta SANU oral history life stories interview evaluation validity narrative |
author_facet |
Petrović Sonja |
author_sort |
Petrović Sonja |
title |
Evaluation of oral histories and life stories |
title_short |
Evaluation of oral histories and life stories |
title_full |
Evaluation of oral histories and life stories |
title_fullStr |
Evaluation of oral histories and life stories |
title_full_unstemmed |
Evaluation of oral histories and life stories |
title_sort |
evaluation of oral histories and life stories |
publisher |
Institute of Ethnography, SASA, Belgrade |
series |
Glasnik Etnografskog Instituta SANU |
issn |
0350-0861 2334-8259 |
publishDate |
2018-01-01 |
description |
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] |
topic |
oral history life stories interview evaluation validity narrative |
url |
http://www.doiserbia.nb.rs/img/doi/0350-0861/2018/0350-08611802319P.pdf |
work_keys_str_mv |
AT petrovicsonja evaluationoforalhistoriesandlifestories |
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