Portelli en de narratieve ruimte. Over oral history als dialoog

Oral history is enormously popular. Countless heritage projects use interviews and guest speakers, and personal stories are also ubiquitous in films, literature and media. However, many historians are suspicious of oral history. After all, how do you know if what people tell you is true? In his seminal work, Italian oral historian Alessandro Portelli has argued since the 1970s that the subjectivity of oral sources is not a weakness, but rather a strength. He even goes a step further by arguing that not only the interviewee but also the interviewer cannot escape this subjectivity, and that this is, in fact, a good thing. An oral history interview, he says, is a 'co-created narrative between subjects', in which the interviewer has as much of a stake as the interviewee. Both conduct the conversation from their own role and with their own agenda, but also as themselves. In a dialogue, a 'narrative space' is created: narrative space in which the interviewee shapes her/his story, facilitated by the historian. This notion of the interview as co-creation and dialogue has since become commonplace in oral history theorising, but is at odds with the still influential notion out there that scholars (should) be objective. Oral historians Nikki de la Rie and Susan Hogervorst discussed this field of tension for Locus, relating a recent review article by Portelli to their own practical experiences as interviewers.