Some Problems of the Research Methods of the Oral Histories

Abstract

The author's English summary from the article:

In modern narratology biographical method is widely used for the research of the typical structure of the life way or collective biography of generations. Biographical method implies the reconstruction of the analysis of the social-historical data and of the life way of the separate individuals. The sources of information are narrative texts, correspondence, recollections, diaries, autobiography and social biography. Biographical data are worked up with the help of content-analysis, statistics and typology. Type’s biographical methods are: 1. Oral History; 2. Life History; 3. Family History. Biographical method is mainly used for the investigation of oral histories.

Development of the oral histories, as of the research direction, is connected to the American biographer, Historian and Journalist Alan Nevin. In modern narratology there are two directions of practical-methodology and theoretical activity of the oral histories: 1. Commented documentation of the selected histories; 2. Synoptically estimations (comprehensive, comparative) connected to the whole life history. In both cases the main factor of creation of the oral history is linked to the informant. According to the publications the first method dominates. On the preparatory stage Narratology has to carry out a convincing work. The principle aim of folklorists is to show peculiar characters of the narrator from the thematically divided texts, to describe his position in the environment in which he lives.

Separate histories are related to the field of narratology and partly to sociology, historiography and ethnology. Documentations and analysis is realized on the basis of audio/video and texts. Synoptically estimation of life histories is based on the methodological principles of qualitative cultural-social research. In narratology culturally important event, having important influence on narration, are not under attention sufficiently. During communication oral history mainly is considered as a separate, important extract of the long finished story and not as a whole. These adventures and recollections are understood as reflection and narration of separate events.

Life histories are interpreted as of descriptions of personal need. The function of Narrative situation is considered as personal realization or illustration of the attempt of the narrator to persuade or over-persuade the listener. In folkloristic reality of oral histories and recollections is minor in difference from the stories based on experiences of historians. ∗ The des: grante project has been fulfilled by support of Georgia National Science Fundation (Grant # GNSF/PRES08/1-306). Any idea in this publication is possessed by the author and may not represent the opinion of Georgia Science Foundation. Life histories are ascribed not only to the time categories such as: childhood, youth, adulthood, old age and family cycles, but also social and sexual experiences, expectations and division of the life histories into time phases.

Must be taken into consideration separate episodes such as: illness, religions and political conversion wars, migration and results, also imprisonment, imprisonment period, all there works as a dividing line according to which life histories are divided into to main different periods: “before” and “after it”. After the first observation following elements can be separated of the oral histories:  A story or stories about past life. They are not the exact account of teller’s life, but a fiction product of his memory and imagination. Narrator turns his life into story, even more he sometimes creates it a new;  Plan of narration - organized structure, succession.

Life Story can have on the basis chronology or something other - development of crisis / tension;  Characters and personified personages;  Topics and subject lines;  Acts of speech and conversational units;  Components of fiction language. Oral histories are related mainly to the research field of Sociology, Historiography, and Ethnology. Despite of a great interest, in this topic in narratology we have comparative few investigations. For narratology life histories and autobiographies are important in that case if they are considered as the topic of oral or written imagination. Influence of life stories on the traditional narrative forms and materials was recognized at the early stage.

Life stories were involved in the research sphere first of all for the extensions of the view on the traditional oral verbal forms. During the investigation of life stories self-schematization is important as well as narrative topics about others. Self life topic history is daily. As topic of others daily histories are met in legends, autobiographies, funeral speeches, gossips and soon. For the research, the main sphere of investigation is the narration of experiences, advancers, encounters and opinions. The reason is that in narration self-reflection and self-schematization corresponds to each other. Approximate samples of reflection as a rule coincides with the forms of narrations shaped culturally and individually.

A daily traditional and communicative genre subordinates to changes from the view of from and plots. Genres are intertransitive. If a painful event looses its shape in the form of legend, them it takes a distance from it and can be presented in the modus of anecdote. Home we may conclude, that the narrator and the society together with him undergone a change (proper examples of it are wars and their subsequent). Central category of the oral history is time. In narratology less attention is taken to the influence of the cultural events on narration. In the context of political and social events analysis of oral histories, an adventure plays an important role in the investigation of such processes as: migration, political and social changes, wars, terrors, violence and etc.

Oral histories can serve an important role for the scientist’s investigation problems of narrative theory, traditional genres, their history and their development. For narratology life histories and autobiographies are important in that case if they are considered as the topic of oral or written imagination. Influence of life stories on the traditional narrative forms and materials was recognized at the early stage. Life stories were involved in the research sphere first of all for the extensions of the view on the traditional oral verbal forms. It is well-known that genres are intertransitive, which means that once a painful event formed in Legend after a period of time can loose its primary shape and take a distance from it and remove into the modus of anecdote.

Today investigation of oral histories of current events is important from the view of tracing through such kind of transformations for the future. In folkloristic it is hard and sometimes impossible to observe formation of genres and their analysis. Investigation of the mechanism of narrative of oral histories from this point of view promises an interesting innovation.

Published in the journal Sjani, vol. 10 (2009), pp. 157–169. Open the paper