The Unseen Memories

Hamid Qazvini
Translated by: Zahra Hosseinian

2020-12-15


The number and variety of cultural and artistic productions are usually considered as indicators for assessing the cultural condition, which is also the basis for judging by many individuals and institutions.

Many officials  has obsessed with this view and it has led them to think only about the number of works in the allocation of budget and other support, regardless of the richness of the content and the degree of influence and attraction of the audience.

In such a situation, some publishers, who also have deep cultural and value concerns, have joined the line of producing rushed large number of works, and sacrificed the quality for quantity. Such works not only do not contribute to the growth of culture and the realization of its lofty goals, but sometimes also cause harm.

The high volume of published works in the field of memoirs and oral history is an example, many of which are incapable of attracting even the smallest audience and have no added value to the knowledge of society.

It has been repeatedly stated that the purpose of writing memoirs and oral history is not merely to publish the mental resources of a narrator, rather the goal is to add a new and of course valid page to the pages of the history book to help recording or discovering the truth.

In recent years, we have witnessed institutions, publishers and media which have recorded and published the memoirs of different people in various formats every day, but they did not specify how they supposed to meet the need of audience and history. Like any other research, the effect of oral history should have specific goals so that the audience can make a clear assessment of its achievement.

In this type of historiography, if the less seen groups of the society define a new role and position for themselves by entering the compiling history, care and delicacy must be exercised in presenting this role so that their works are not considered futile and do not cause a waste of resources.



 
Number of Visits: 2677


Comments

 
Full Name:
Email:
Comment:
 
Book Review

Kak-e Khak

The book “Kak-e Khak” is the narration of Mohammad Reza Ahmadi (Haj Habib), a commander in Kurdistan fronts. It has been published by Sarv-e Sorkh Publications in 500 copies in spring of 1400 (2022) and in 574 pages. Fatemeh Ghanbari has edited the book and the interview was conducted with the cooperation of Hossein Zahmatkesh.

Is oral history the words of people who have not been seen?

Some are of the view that oral history is useful because it is the words of people who have not been seen. It is meant by people who have not been seen, those who have not had any title or position. If we look at oral history from this point of view, it will be objected why the oral memories of famous people such as revolutionary leaders or war commanders are compiled.

Daily Notes of a Mother

Memories of Ashraf-al Sadat Sistani
They bring Javad's body in front of the house. His mother comes forward and says to lay him down and recite Ziarat Warith. His uncle recites Ziarat and then tells take him to the mosque which is in the middle of the street and pray the funeral prayer (Ṣalāt al-Janāzah) so that those who do not know what the funeral prayer is to learn it.

A Critique on Oral history of War Commanders

“Answering Historical Questions and Ambiguities Instead of Individual-Organizational Identification”
“Oral history of Commanders” is reviewed with the assumption that in the field of war historiography, applying this method is narrated in an advancing “new” way, with the aim of war historiography, emphasizing role of commanders in creation of its situations and details.