Unveiling of the book: “Oral History: What and Why” — Report 2 (Final)

By Maryam Asadi Jafari
Translated by Fazel Shirzad

2025-11-11

Note: According to the Oral History website, the unveiling ceremony for the book “Oral History: What and Why” by Hamid Ghazvini was held on Sunday, October 26, 2025, at the Salman Farsi Hall of the Art Bureau, with the presence of experts in the field of oral history. In the first part of the program, Alireza Kamari, a researcher in oral history, briefly discussed several points—some serving as an introduction and others as direct references to the book itself.

Later, Hamid Ghazvini explained the process of publishing “Oral History: What and Why”:

“This book consists of notes that, at the suggestion of friends, were first published on the Oral History website. When their number grew, colleagues from the Literature Office suggested turning them into a book, which gave us the motivation to do so. We discussed it with Al-Ahmad Publications, who welcomed the idea, and the book was eventually published.”

Next, Jafar Golshan Roghani referred to Ghazvini’s activities in the field of oral history in Lebanon and asked him to speak about the differences between oral history interviews in Arab countries and in Iran. Ghazvini replied:

“The differences are significant. Socio-cultural factors affect the quality of interviews. However, in Iran—thanks to three decades of oral history work—the practice of recording memories and conducting oral history interviews has become familiar and well-established among those with memories to share. Based on my personal experience, specifically in Lebanon, there are two main challenges.

First, many issues in Lebanon still belong to the present and have not yet become ‘history.’ Many cases remain unresolved, so when someone wants to share memories, they inevitably focus on ongoing issues, which makes recalling the past difficult. The second issue is that people often confuse oral history interviews with media interviews. These two differences are the most striking.”

Then, Hojjat al-eslam Saeed Fakharzadeh reviewed “Oral History: What and Why” and stated:

“The story of oral history is a complicated and sometimes painful one. Even after the formation of the Oral History Association and two decades of discussions, its core members have not yet reached a consensus on the definition of oral history. So, it’s a complex subject with many differing perspectives.

This book reflects the experiences and accepted viewpoints of Mr. Hamid Ghazvini on oral history—ideas that some of us may critique. The book is composed of two main sections.

The first part discusses theoretical issues of oral history—based on the author’s perspective and his review of domestic and international sources. It is primarily explanatory rather than critical.

The second part, from ‘interview to compilation,’ draws upon Ghazvini’s personal experiences in the field. Over several years of oral history work, he has summarized his insights in a thematic list. When one wants to propose a theory or idea, it must either rely on previous documentation or on implemented examples. For those wishing to learn from the experience of a professional oral historian, this book serves as a concise but useful guide. It could have included more detailed explanations for each point, but perhaps due to the publication constraints of the Oral History website—where long texts may tire readers—brevity was chosen. I believe that if another oral historian were to interview Mr. Ghazvini and extract his experiences through questions, a more academically valuable work could result. Nonetheless, we must commend his courage for contributing another book to the field of oral history—something much needed in this domain.”

Next, Ali Rostami, the director of Al-Ahmad Publications, spoke about the book:

“Al-Ahmad Publications, with 20 years of experience, previously focused on works about the Sacred Defense before the paper market crisis of the past decade. Our activities were interrupted for a while, and my son, Mohammad Javad Rostami, took over management. Due to his academic background, he has recently focused on publishing philosophical works. I hope ‘Oral History: What and Why’ will be a blessed starting point for Al-Ahmad Publications’ renewed engagement with the oral history of the Revolution and the Sacred Defense.”

At the end of the ceremony, Dr. Gholamreza Azizi and Hossein Zanjani delivered remarks on oral history and Hamid Ghazvini’s contributions, followed by the formal unveiling of the book “Oral History: What and Why.”