Contributing an oral-history interview

Two original fictional non-fiction texts for reading practice.

Text A: an interviewer’s reflection

People sometimes apologise that their memories are untidy. They jump between years, return to a detail or disagree with an earlier account. I do not want to turn that into a perfectly ordered story before we have understood what the uncertainty means. Remembering is part of the subject, not simply a faulty way to deliver facts.

That does not make every remembered detail reliable. A date can be checked against a document while the speaker's account of how a day felt remains valuable. The record should distinguish those kinds of knowledge rather than quietly correct everything into one confident voice.

Contributors also need to know what will happen to the recording. Agreeing to speak to me in a room does not automatically mean agreeing to have every sentence placed online. We discuss access, naming and any restricted sections before the final agreement.

An interview is a shared event, but it is not shared ownership of another person's life. Questions can open an account; they should not force a contribution into the story an interviewer hoped to find.

Text B: a contributor’s account

I expected to be asked for dates and worried that I would get them wrong. Instead, the interviewer asked what I could remember about my first week at work. A small detail about where we left our coats brought back more than my prepared list of years.

Later I realised I had put one event in the wrong month. We checked a programme and noted the correction. I was glad the uncertainty was recorded rather than making it sound as though I had always been certain. Getting the month right did not explain what the change had meant to me.

I also asked for a section naming another person to remain unavailable for a time. Being willing to talk was not the same as wanting every part made public immediately. Having that choice explained made it easier to contribute honestly.

The interviewer had imagined a story about a dramatic departure. Mine was mostly about gradually learning a job. I appreciated being allowed to disappoint that expectation. An ordinary memory should not need a dramatic shape before somebody thinks it belongs in a record.

Compare what the two writers say about people contributing oral-history interviews. Make it clear which text you are using.