How do we make sense of the memories that we record as oral historians? How do we begin to transform stories into histories? In this workshop with Monash University History Professor Alistair Thomson, Oral History Victoria will consider a range of ways of approaching the interpretation of memories.

We’ll note the changing ways that researchers have used memory as a historical source. We’ll consider the factors that shape memory stories. We’ll try out narrative analysis with interview extracts (from Al’s interviews with migrants and war veterans) using the rich clues of sound, gesture, word and narrative form. We’ll think about how we might work with a set of interviews to find historical patterns and illuminate historical themes.

You’ll finish up brimming with ideas and enthusiasm for working with your own interviews (or other people’s interviews), armed with lists of further reading if you wish to deepen your understanding.

Registration fees apply.

Read more here.