ORAL HISTORY
The aim of oral history is to go beyond classical historiography, based on written sources, in order to examine the past through the personal experience and point of view of the individual gathered through structured interviews. This technique not only assists in revealing the existence of recent historical events and personalities that have so far been ignored, but also allows us to determine how the past was seen through the eyes of those living in a particular period.
 The History Foundation started its work in the field of oral history by organizing a workshop in 1993 to which Prof Paul Thompson, one of the most distinguished specialists in oral history, was invited. The first part of the History Foundation's oral history project started in 1993 with the financial support of the Ministry of Culture and was completed in 1995. In the course of this project over 400 hours of video tape recording was made of long interviews with 103 elderly people whose reminiscences could be of importance for social history.
On the occasion of the 75th anniversary of the Turkish Republic, the History Foundation implemented the "Reminiscences of the Republic" Oral History and Documentary Film Project consisting of a series of 13 documentary films based on reminiscences of three generations of contemporary witnesses of the Republic. The series was broadcasted on various national television channels.
The Yurt Publications, within the framework of the oral history activities, published Paul Thompson's Geçmisin Sesi (The Sound of the Past); Leyla Neyzi's Istanbul'da Hatirlamak ve Unutmak (Remembering and Forgetting in Istanbul); Halil Dural's Bize Derler Çakirca (They Call Us Çakirca) and Stephan Caunce's Sözlü Tarih ve Yerel Tarihçi (Oral History and the Local Historian).
In 2003, the History Foundation will conduct oral history interviews with people over the age of 70 coming from different regions, social, ethnic and religious backgrounds in order to document their memoirs. You may provide financial support to this project entitled "1000 Witnesses to History" or you may suggest people to be interviewed.
The History Foundation is also researching the development processes of various districts in Istanbul in a different project known as "Mediterranean Voices" sponsored by the European Commission. |
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