Metodološki izzivi uporabe ustnih virov pri preučevanju vsakdanjega življenja v socializmu

Abstract

METHODOLOGICAL CHALLENGES OF IMPLEMENTING ORAL SOURCES IN THE RESEARCH OF EVERYDAY LIFE IN SOCIALISM

In the following contribution the author focuses on the methodological questions she dealt with during the recording and analysis of testimonies for the purpose of researching everyday life in socialism. The first part of the contribution is dedicated to questions related to the selection of the research method and the recording of testimonies. The author describes her fieldwork experience, the way of relating to the witnesses, and how different factors impacted the dynamics of the testimonies. In the second part of the contribution she focuses on the issues involved in the content analysis and wonders about the actual image of the past based on testimonies. It is evident that memories and deliberations on the past reflect individual experiences and simultaneously also strongly depend on the momentary involvement of witnesses in the environment and space. The collected testimonies reveal to what degree these narrations were impacted by the original environment of the witnesses, historical experience of their families, the period of the economic crisis and social discontent during which the recordings were made, or integration into the wider social context where different public discourses play an important role as well. The diverse outlooks on the past formed under the influence of these factors represent important material for understanding the social processes in socialism and post-socialism. However, a scientific analysis of these outlooks is required.