The Unexpected in Oral History

How is an oral historian to react when the unexpected emerges, whether in field research or interview analysis? Answers tend to be scattered throughout the scholarly literature or confined to backstage conversations. This book brings the unexpected to the center of the scene and promotes a collective reflection about ways of dealing with uneasy encounters, surprises, and interviews that seem to have gone off the rails. The contributors come from a dozen countries, especially Brazil, where a classic piece about a “great liar” paved the way for this discussion. Rather than eccentric descriptions of unusual situations, these chapters evoke a dense web of reflections about dialogue, the production of oral sources, and the complexities of personal narratives. Theoretically informed but written in an engaging language, the book presents readers with fascinating case studies of the eruptions of the unexpected that occur in oral history research.

Ricardo Santhiago is a professor at the Institute of Cities at the Federal University of São Paulo (Unifesp), Brazil. An oral and public historian with a focus on Brazilian culture, he is the author of articles and books on Brazilian popular music, oral history methodology, urban cultures, and memory studies. He is a National Council for Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq) Productivity Fellow.

Miriam Hermeto is a professor at the School of Philosophy and Human Sciences at the Federal University of Minas Gerais (UFMG), Brazil. Her research is on the teaching of history and the memory of the Brazilian military dictatorship. Also a singer, she creates and performs historical-themed concerts that combine music and documentation.