Publication details
Orální historie ve výzkumu proměn společenského života na malém venkovském městě
| Title in English | The use of oral history in researching social transformation in a small rural town |
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| Authors | |
| Year of publication | 2017 |
| Type | Article in Proceedings |
| Conference | Etnológ v teréne: Zborník z XX. konferencie Etnológ a múzeum, 21. – 23. júna 2016, Starý zámok v Banskej Štiavnici |
| MU Faculty or unit | |
| Citation | |
| Field | Archaeology, anthropology, ethnology |
| Keywords | oral history; field research; socialism; social life; rural areas; local communities; position of a researcher in the field |
| Description | The survey described in this paper reflects the current interest in the transformation of the forms of people’s associations and their social life in general in Moravia’s rural areas. It does so by highlighting individuals’ roles and the possibilities for them to take the initiative to develop activities in their own interest. The period of so-called normalisation, upon which the author focuses, is a typical one, having specific features due not only due to the former socialistic regime but to other factors as well. Modernisation and the increase in people’s free time are other features having an impact on the situation. The paper describes the process of a survey’s beginning, its assumptions, and the starting points that influenced the author in the choice of research site, the place in which they conducted life story interviews with actors in the local social life. The paper points out some particulars of an oral survey implemented in a town’s “non-anonymous” environment, including some risks such a survey might present. The author also discusses interpretation themes and motifs that may arise in the course of conducting interviews with representatives of local social life. |