I have recently read Stasiland: Stories from Behind the Berlin Wall (2002) and have begun to read They Say in Harlan County: An Oral History (2011)
Some years ago I read a few pages of Stasiland: Stories from Behind the Berlin Wall (2002) by Anna Funder about life in East Germany before and after the fall of the Berlin Wall. I was impressed with what I read at the time, and recently have read the entire book.
The brief passages, highlighted at the link in the previous paragraph, that originally caught my attention resonate even more strongly given that I’ve now read the story, inside of which they are embedded.
I read Stasiland, from cover to cover this time, because it’s mentioned in a Doctor of Creative Arts dissertation (also highly impressive) by Siobhan McHugh:
Oral history and the radio documentary/feature: intersections and synergies (2010)
The dissertation also speaks of the significant contribution Alessandro Portelli has made to the theory and practice of oral history. I have recently begun to read Portelli’s study, based on twenty-five years of interviews, They Say in Harlan County: An Oral History (2011).
Both books – by Anna Funder and Alessandro Portelli – are of interest. I look forward to reading other accounts related to topics addressed by Funder and Portelli, to get a sense of how other accounts may be structured. My interest (quite aside from the subject matter itself) is with regard to ways in which books and media productions, based upon oral history interviews and archival resources, can be put together.
Also of interest, with regard to books based upon interviews: a March 23, 2021 Tyee article is entitled: “A Master Interviewer Shares His Secrets: Craig Taylor turned conversations with 200 New Yorkers into an acclaimed new book, much of it polished near Nanaimo.”
An excerpt reads:
I work with a list of verbs — many can be applied to places like New York or London. It’s one way to ensure I’m interviewing people about action rather than asking them to reflect. Because the book is about action it takes a reader into different worlds. People love to talk about what they do, and in doing so they reveal a lot about their lives, their joys, their pains and everything else.
Memories are malleable; oral history takes this into account
Oral history as theory and practice takes into account what we know about how memories work (a topic addressed at a previous post):
Memories are malleable – capable of being stretched or bent into different shapes
As noted at a previous post, a passage from p. 136 of Stasiland by Anna Funder, concerning an interview with a former GDR propaganda official, continues to resonate:
He can switch from from one view to another with frightening ease. I think it is a sign of being accustomed to such power that the truth does not matter because you cannot be contradicted.
This is a quote that, for me, resonates profoundly. What comes to mind is the proposition that, sometimes, power speaks its own language whereby in is out, up is down, and big is small.
As noted above, a previous post is entitled:
Memories are malleable – capable of being stretched or bent into different shapes
I am reminded of a Feb. 2, 2024 New York Times article which is entitled: “A Leading Memory Researcher Explains How to Make Precious Moments Last.”
An excerpt reads:
Rather than being photo-accurate repositories of past experience, Ranganath argues, our memories function more like active interpreters, working to help us navigate the present and future. The implication is that who we are, and the memories we draw on to determine that, are far less fixed than you might think. “Our identities,” Ranganath says, “are built on shifting sand.”
Why We Remember: Unlicking Memory’s Power to Hold on the What Matters (2024): A Kirkus Review of the book reads:
A well-informed tour of a mysterious and crucial part of the brain, promising greater self-awareness and mental clarity.
A professor of neuroscience and psychology delivers a wide-ranging study of how memories make us who and what we are.
Memory is a quirky thing, writes Ranganath, director of the Dynamic Memory Lab at the University of California, Davis. We can remember song lyrics from 20 years ago, but we can also forget what we ate yesterday. The author has been trying to understand memory for decades, and he admits that a huge amount still remains a puzzle. He explains the mechanisms of memory in the brain and the different types and levels of memory, as well as the evolutionary reasons for it. Many theories have been posed about how memories develop, but the current thinking involves “a phenomenon called error-driven learning,” where memory is a constant process of reworking experiences to fit our larger mental picture. Memory failures have been linked to depression, poor sleep, and other ailments. Ranganath explains how fake “memories” can be inserted by repeated suggestion, to the point that people have “remembered” and confessed to crimes they didn’t commit. Some memories, especially those of traumatic events, break into our consciousness unbidden. The author suggests that they can be kept under control by persistent and intentional rejection, although it takes effort. He also offers tips on how to not forget routine things (phone, keys) by connecting their image to something else. It’s useful advice, but much of the book is devoted to Ranganath’s examination of theories of memory and the new generation of testing. Anyone expecting a simple how-to guide on improving their memory may be disappointed. The author’s research is undeniably intriguing, but the book will appeal to specialists more than general readers.
A well-informed tour of a mysterious and crucial part of the brain, promising greater self-awareness and mental clarity.