Oral history – an attempt to define a concept Cover Image

Historia mówiona – próba definicji pojęcia
Oral history – an attempt to define a concept

Author(s): Michał Kierzkowski
Subject(s): History
Published by: Ośrodek »Pamięć i Przyszłość«
Keywords: oral history, methodology

Summary/Abstract: In the following article, taking into account the difficulties in defining the concept of oral history, I would like to propose a multifaceted approach to the problem. Instead of trying to define the main issue in a traditional, explicit way, I will try to define it from different perspectives. In this way I would like to prove that oral history and its complex construction cannot be defined in a short and explicit way and the multitude of existing definitions lead to chaos and some kind of reduction. My way of defining, which focuses on highlighting significant characteristics and all the necessary elements, is supposed to overcome the previous limitations. Instead of one definition, I present several subsequent formulations, which result from the multifaceted construction of this research practice.

  • Issue Year: 2014
  • Issue No: 04
  • Page Range: 5-20
  • Page Count: 16
  • Language: Polish