A Reflection on the Relationship between Oral History and Art – 2

Its Form and Importance

Compiled by: Hamid Qazvin
Translated by: Fazel Shirzad

2024-9-4

Oral history is the product of human action and humans are different from each other. It has never been possible to repeat and realize all the works in all periods. The facilities and historical and cultural contexts are not the same. By the way, this is where human talent and art emerge; The talent and art that comes out of the creativity and ability of the oral history researcher.

On the other hand, every phenomenon has a form, and content phenomena are full of form elements that evoke a concept for the audience. In order to understand all phenomena, even immaterial phenomena, people create a picture in their mind and rely on it to communicate.

Now, the question is, to what extent does the form of the work of oral history rely on the criteria of aesthetics and in connection with art?

If we consider the form in every phenomenon as the internal system that governs the relationships between the components of the same phenomenon and the structure that contains the content, then the more beautiful and elegant the form, the better and more the possibility of presenting and conveying the content will be.

To complete this claim, it should be said that the author's font, the structure of the sentences, the form of the pages, the design of the cover, the cutting of the work, the quality of printing and such things are all related logically and regularly and form the form of the work, and in the quality of content transmission and absorption The audience is influential.

Even in the interview stage, some matters such as the tone and literature of the narrator and interviewer, body language and such things that have a direct impact on the content, are all defined under the form. Therefore, the form is directly related to the production of the work, which is a manifestation of the taste and art of the oral history researcher.

Sometimes it is thought that form and content are two concepts or two separate phenomena and form is considered less important, while no matter how rich the content is, in the absence of the desired form, it is not possible to communicate with the audience and convey the concept. In a clear example, we can mention the calligraphy, gilding, cutting, and marginalization of the Qur'an and other religious books and poets' divan, which all play a role in conveying the concept and attracting the audience and influencing his mind and look.

So the form is not an activity separated from other parts. Our understanding of form depends on our experience of important implications for both the creator of the work and the audience. In fact, the form in any work of art is important to attract and influence the audience and it cannot be ignored in the production cycle.

From this point of view, it can be said that the form, which is considered from the beginning of the production cycle to the end, is closely related to art and aesthetics, and the more the actors of this cycle have more artistic knowledge or the more they benefit from consultants and people familiar with this field. They will be more successful in creating a lasting and usable work for the audience.

A reflection on the relationship between oral history and art- 1