The Unexpected in Oral History: Case Studies of Surprising Interviews (Palgrave Studies in Oral History)

How is an oral historian to react when the unexpected emerges, whether in field research or interview analysis? Answers tend to be scattered throughout the scholarly literature or confined to backstage conversations. This book brings the unexpected to the center of the scene and promotes a collective reflection about ways of dealing with uneasy encounters, surprises, and interviews that seem to have gone off the rails. The contributors come from a dozen countries, especially Brazil, where a classic piece about a “great liar” paved the way for this discussion. Rather than eccentric descriptions of unusual situations, these chapters evoke a dense web of reflections about dialogue, the production of oral sources, and the complexities of personal narratives. Theoretically informed but written in an engaging language, the book presents readers with fascinating case studies of the eruptions of the unexpected that occur in oral history research. Acknowledgments Contents Notes on Contributors Chapter 1: Foreword References Chapter 2: Introduction Beyond the Anecdotal Learning from the Unexpected References Part I: Scratching the Silence: The Unexpected as an Outbreak Chapter 3: Introduction to Part I References Chapter 4: My Grandfather’s Unknown History The First Unexpected Event From Family History to the Research Project Taking the Floor “That one died” Chapter 5: Florence Richard, Childhood Sexual Violence, and the Unsettling of Local History The Diary The Interview Recording Conclusion Chapter 6: An Unexpected Gift: Oral History and the Documentation of Michfest Virtual Fire Circles in a Time of Pandemic Let’s Talk About Sex Otherworldly Chapter 7: Commentary: The Elaboration of What Has Been Lived Two Brief Stories to Begin With Possible Pasts The Impossible Recovery of Memory References Part II: Between Lies and Half-Truths: The Unexpected as Falsification Chapter 8: Introduction to Part II References Chapter 9: The Must-See Play that so Many People Staged: A Mosaic of (False) Memories Before the Unexpected, the Starting Point “Chico’s Play that He Staged Himself” “Just a Willingness to Talk” Reference Chapter 10: New Looks at Old Interviews: Racism and Privilege Around Black Folk Festivities Who Did Elmira Remember? Who Did Afonsina Forget? The Oral and the Written Ends and Trails References Chapter 11: “Sincere Lies Interest Me”: The Power of Falsehood in Oral History The Turtle Man Considerations Not at All Final References Chapter 12: A Love Story That Never Happened The Great Liar A Taste of Bouchonnée Watch Out, Boy! References Chapter 13: Commentary: Leftovers, Their Unexpected Forms, and the Act of Gleaning: Re-encounters with Interviews To Relive and Re-encounter the In-Between of the Stories Unexpected or Unusual? What Is There, If Not the Unexpected-Unusual? References Part III: Deviating Routes: The Unexpected as a Mnemonic Device Chapter 14: Introduction to Part III References Chapter 15: “Who rode in my car? Who do you think? Jesus!”: Subversion and Displacement in the Rereading of an Interview “We Can Talk on Our Way There” “A Young, Darkish Man Appeared to Me” References Chapter 16: Metabolizing the Leftovers of Memory Case 1 Case 2 Oral History: Total Listening References Chapter 17: The Unexpected in an Archive: Interferences in a Soccer Memory Collection A Topsy-Turvy Interaction: The Interviewer’s Speech References Chapter 18: Commentary: Revisiting Oral Sources: The Unexpected and the Anticipated in Oral History Praxis The Unexpected as a Memory-Maker Praxis and Critical Analysis Revisiting Oral Sources: Paths and Challenges Reference Part IV: The Answer Is Another Subject: The Unexpected as a Generative Device Chapter 19: Introduction to Part IV References Chapter 20: Looking for Heroes, I Found Conventional Workers: A Labor Community in the Argentine Dictatorship Looking for Heroes Conclusion References Chapter 21: The Devious Paths of Memory: Reflections on the Experience of Interviews with Residents of the Caparaó Sierra After All, Who Is the Guerrilla Warrior? From the Recollections of Caparaó Sierra Residents to Military Documents References Chapter 22: “Everything Has Been Said”: Surprising Encounters from Oral Histories in Ireland The Field Research Experience Dealing with the Unexpected Chapter 23: Commentary: The Answer Is Not Only Another Subject: It Is Also Another Set of Questions References Part V: Nothing but Surprises: The Unexpected as a Given Chapter 24: Introduction to Part V References Chapter 25: The Case of the Baffling Bandit Shaping an Interview Meeting the Bandit The Bandit’s “Work” and His Self-Image Colonial Identities and Collective Memory Discovering Another Perspective References Chapter 26: Tragedy, Trauma, and the Transformations of Local Memory First Generation: Places Second and Third Generations: Paths Disruptions: Unexpected Event, Unexpected Memories References Chapter 27: Uncomfortable Stories and Tensions in the Official Memory of an Institution An Unexpected Finding: From the Analysis of Termination Documents to the Narrative of Union Struggle Concluding Comments References Chapter 28: Commentary: Oral History as a Culture of Research References Part VI: Avenues and Openings: The Unexpected as a Method Chapter 29: Introduction to Part VI References Chapter 30: Listening to Young Geeks in a Different City’s Cosplay Scene An Unforeseen Saturday Sunday’s Findings Anyway ... References Chapter 31: “Ain’t You Afraid to Be around a Drifter Like Me?”: Beyond the Nothingness and the Fragments of the Life on the Streets On the Edge of Reason Order, Disorder, and Liminality Chapter 32: Struggling Through Speech in the Midst of Grief: A Non-interview and the Indigenous Xakriabá Cosmopolitics From the Interview to a Non-interview The Practice References Chapter 33: Ethnic Classification and Trauma During the Rwandan Genocide The Ordeal of a Man of Peace A Case of Mistaken Identity References Chapter 34: Commentary: How Do We Face the Unexpected? Constitutive Practices of Oral History The Ability to Listen References Chapter 35: Afterword: Expecting the Unexpected Index