Description

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In addition to the problem of language, conducting oral histories with immigrant narrators often requires special considerations: past violence, cultural sensitivity, and lack of trust. Yet, these narrators are often witnesses to, or participants in, important historical events, or can describe otherwise-undocumented social phenomena.

The first book to focus specifically on oral history practices with immigrant narrators, it

• gives both the novice and experienced oral historian insights into their narrators’ needs;
• provides the tools to effectively plan and execute an oral history project in an immigrant community;
• includes case studies, additional resources, and templates of important oral history processes.

About the Author

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Carol McKirdy is proprietor of the oral history consulting company HistoryHerstory based in Sydney, Australia. She has conducted numerous oral history projects through adult education, communities, and societies, including an extensive project with a Sudanese immigrant community in Australia. She has been involved in oral history curriculum development for vocational training, runs an educational oral history wiki website, and is active in the Australian oral history community. McKirdy has a Masters of Studies in Education from University of Wollongong and has decades of experience as a history instructor and languages and literacy teacher in secondary schools and adult education.

Praise For…

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"Every immigrant has a story we can learn from, and the very best way for their stories to reach the ears and the hearts of public audiences is through the recorded oral history interview. Practicing Oral History with Immigrant Narrators provides the tools and best practices to do just that. McKirdy honors the uniqueness of every immigrant’s story, sensitively illustrated with real-life examples, and at the same time recognizes commonalities within the immigrant experience."
—From the Foreword by Nancy MacKay

“McKirdy’s publication will have a major impact upon refining why and how immigrant oral histories are undertaken – it will become an essential handbook for the nurturing of oral historians in this specialist field. It offers a well-defined and clear voice to best practice sourced from not only the author’s depth of knowledge and experience, but also that of immigrant oral histories projects within both the United States and Australia. Sensitivities and strategies of personal interaction, cultural understanding, considerations of language and trauma, are all explored and articulated with both professionals and amateurs in mind.  The world has stories to tell of immigration, and this book passes on the word as how best to encourage successful engagement with the telling, recording and documenting.”

—Leonard Janiszewski, Macquarie University

"This book is rich in insights for oral historians working with and for immigrant communities. It introduces key issues, provides examples, and demonstrates the power and worth of the memories shared by narrators from immigrant backgrounds. Here you can gain understanding and advice on ethics and ownership, interviewing about trauma, cultural awareness, the value of photographs, and the importance of language, including the use of interpreters. The author draws particularly on her long experience as an English as a second language educator and as an oral history practitioner."
—Janis Wilton, University of New England (Australia)