‘We never tell the story whole because a life isn’t a story; it’s a whole Milky Way of events and we are forever picking out constellations from it to fit who and where we are.’[1] Rebecca Solnit’s image of dynamic engagement with the past captures what is, for me, one of the most enthralling aspectsContinue reading “Sunlight in the Elizabeth Roberts Working-Class Oral History Archive: Sue Bradley”
Category Archives: Oral History
Children, families and memory: Heather Goodall
Childhood and youth are idealised as times for carefree pleasures – with few responsibilities and little impact from the troubled adult world. But as oral historians, we are often asking people to recall memories from their childhood or youth. So we need to consider how the age and perspectives of youth shaped the ways youngContinue reading “Children, families and memory: Heather Goodall”
“When breath becomes air…”
This post is a reflection of how death was communicated in the past and the effect of social media on this kind of communication in the context of the pandemic.
Anatomy of a project abandoned: How I failed to navigate personal relationships for oral history research: Piyusha Chatterjee
This is the story of a research project that was abandoned. It’s also the story of my love-hate relationship with my first research project and, for lack of a better word, the failure to execute it. After living with this project for the first two years of my doctoral program, when I realised that IContinue reading “Anatomy of a project abandoned: How I failed to navigate personal relationships for oral history research: Piyusha Chatterjee”
A story with no ending: Meeting Vincent Stone
On pleasant November day in 2017, Sandro and I set out to meet Vincent Stone. We are in Shillong – the beautiful capital of the scenic state of Meghalaya [literally, “the place where the clouds dwell”] in north east India . Alessandro Portelli (Sandro) and I had just finished teaching at the Winter School inContinue reading “A story with no ending: Meeting Vincent Stone”
An Interview I never did: Jyotirmoy Choudhury (1919-1995)
My father, Jyotirmoy ‘Benu’ Choudhury would have completed a hundred years today – 23 September 2020. This is tribute written for his centenary.
The Oral Historian 