“I Didn't Do Anything Important”: A Pragmatist Analysis of the Oral History Interview

Ryan, Kathleen M.

doi:10.1093/ohr/ohp002

Cited by 7 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 21 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…It also recognizes that the interview reveals what is acceptable and what is not. For example, Ryan (2009) demonstrates how women serving in the Navy and Coast Guard during the Second World War repeatedly said “I didn't do anything important.” They did not intend to devalue their contribution, but were speaking to acknowledge society's expectations.…”

Section: Human Relationships In Historical Enquirymentioning

confidence: 99%

Voices passed

Davies

2011

Journal of Historical Research in Marketing

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

PurposeThe paper's aim are to: review the value and credibility of oral history for historical research in marketing; and conceptualize oral history as more than a data source in historical research but also a subject to investigate memory and a conceptual approach for understanding historical events.Design/methodology/approachThe paper comprises an international historical review of oral history theory and practice linked to an examination of oral history methods in marketing.FindingsOral history is perceived as an “essentially contested concept”; a lack of consensus on universal principles has been sustained over a long time and has led to incredible diversity in theory and practice but has also made it difficult to grasp and manage. It is shown to be perspectival with analytical reach beyond individuals' recollected experiences and actions. Memory is identified as the subject as well as the source for oral history and a misconception that oral history can provide literal expressions of what experience and events were like is clarified. Oral history has been under‐utilized in marketing history and this is presented as a methodological paradox given the ubiquity of the interview in the marketing discipline more generally.Originality/valueCentral to oral history are a range of questions around issues of memory and remembering that have been largely unacknowledged in marketing and the oral history approach is perhaps uniquely placed to address some of these. Oral history critically examines the making of history and the paper highlights some of the issues this presents for historical research. Disciplinary efforts to standardize oral history are queried.

show abstract

Section: Human Relationships In Historical Enquirymentioning

confidence: 99%

Voices passed

Davies

2011

Journal of Historical Research in Marketing

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Although she was regarding French and British women after WWI, I was not surprised by any of Fell's findings given what I know of contemporary women veterans' identities and representation in their written works. I saw parallels between Fell's work and that of Kathleen M. Ryan's (2009), who looked at the oral histories of WWII women. One parallel is that the women used particular tropes, as Corley (2017) notes, (though Corley is not writing about women veterans) in order to fit within societal roles and in order to share their stories.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%