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Throughout the last two decades of post-socialism, how the shift in focus in the study of history — from collective to individual experiences of history, from institutional to experiential aspects of the past — has been experienced in the humanities and social sciences of post-socialist societies? What role has oral history been playing in emerging reinterpretations of history and their attempts to reclaim the individual and his/her agency from the collectivistic past?
The proposed Invited Collection of Essays on Oral History in Post-Socialist Societies focuses on the above question.
Contributions are invited from scholars in humanities and social sciences whose work utilizes the oral historical method and directly speaks to the main focus of the proposed collection — “Reclaiming the Personal: Oral History in Post-Socialist Scholarship.” We are seeking submissions that reflect on, deal with, and respond to the changing paradigm of scholarship from a variety of perspectives and stand points. The articles, may deal with, but don’t have to be limited to, the following themes and questions:
* Using the method of ‘life history interviewing’ in researching large-scale sociocultural phenomena
* The intersection of personal and public in personal testimonies
* The impact of public discourse on personal perspective on the past and the impact of the personal experiences on public discourse
* The relationship between personal and collective memories in private recollections
* Oral history projects focusing on exploration of private cultural spaces in socialism and after
* The role of the researcher in the construction of the oral historical narratives and in representation of personal voices of their respondents
Only the submissions which would clearly speak to the theme of the volume — focusing on individual in history and in scholarly analysis — would be invited to the proposed multidisciplinary collection of essays on oral history in post-socialist scholarship. The submissions should be also empirically ground in specific oral historical research undertaken by the author.
The prospective contributors are invited to submit their initial proposals (500 words) to the editors by February 1, 2010. All correspondence should be simultaneously directed to:
(attention to Dr. Gelinada Grinchenko, Karazin Kharkiv National University)
(Dr. Natalia Khanenko-Friesen, University of Saskatchewan, St. Thomas More College)
After screening the proposals, the Editorial Committee will inform the initial contributors about their decision to consider or not the proposal by March 1, 2010. The invited contributors will submit their final essays by April 1, 2010.
The language of the proposed publication is English. The editorial committee will be happy to address further questions and enquiries.
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