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    Wong off the record toward an ethnography of practice

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    Wong off the record toward an ethnography of practice

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    © All Rights Reserved
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    22 views11 pages

    WONG Alan OralHisotryOffTheRecord-TowardAnEthnographyOfPractice 2013

    Uploaded by

    Paul DeFazio
    Wong off the record toward an ethnography of practice

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF or read online from Scribd
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    Oral History Off the Record ‘Toward an Ethnography of Practice Edited by ‘Anna Sheftel and Stacey Zembrzycki Foreword by Steven High Afterword by Alessandro Portelli palgrave macmillan Contents Lis of lasraions sii Foreword ww Steven High Series Editor? Foreword wi Linda Shopes and Bruce M. Stave Adknowledgments vail Introduction Ana Shefel and Stacey Zembroyc Part] Reflections on a Lifetime of Listening 2 Henry Greenspan CHAPTER | From California to Kafr Nameh and Back: Reflections on 40 Yeats of Feminist Oral story 23 Sherma Berger Gluck CHAPTER 2 ‘On’ and “OFF the Recotd in Shifting Times and Circumstances 43, Julie Cruitsbank and Tatiana Argounova-Low CHAPTER 3 Politics and Praxis in Cancdian Working-Class Oral History 9 Joan Sangster Parc Encouncers in Vulnerability, Familiarity, and Friendship HourigAstarian CHAPTER 4 ‘The Vilnerable Listener st Martha Norkunat CHAPTER S Listen and Lear: Familiariey and Feeling in she (Oral History Interview Alan Wong CHAPTER 6 ‘Going Places: Helping Youth with Refugee Experiences “Take Their Stories Public Elizabeth Miller ‘CHAPTER 7 ‘Not Just Another Interviewee: Befriending a Holocaust Survivor Stacey Zembraychi Part IIL The Intersection of Ethics and Politics Leyla Nest CHAPTER 8 1.Can Hear Lois Now: Corrections to My Siory ofthe Internment of Japanese Canadians—"For the Record” Pamela Sugiman CHAPTER 9 “Thied Parties in “Third Spaces" Reflecting on the Role of the “Translator in Oral History Interviews with lragi Diasporic Women Nadia Jones Galan CHAPTER 10 “If you'd cold me you wanted to talk about she "60s, | woul have called you back’: Reflections on Collesive Memory and the Practice of Oral History ‘Nancy Janoveek (CHAPTER I "The Ethical Murk of Using Testimony in Cral Historical Research in South Africa “Monica Eileen Patteron Part IV Considering Silence Brin Jesee CHAPTER 12 “Toward an Ethics of Silence? Negotiating OFF -the-Reeord Events and Identity in Oral History Alexander Frewnd 9 na 129 45, v9 169 Contents x (CHAPTER 13 "The Heart of Activism in Colombia: Reflections on Activism and (Oral History Research in a Conflce Area ais wan luchot CHAPTER 14 “T don faney history very much’: Reflections on Interviewee Recruitment and Refusal in Bosnia-Hlerzegovina Anna Sheil Afierword ‘Alessandro Portelli Lis of Consribusors Index 239 255 287 293 96 | Marcha Norkunss seems fom a book Iam wring sbour dficulfamity memoris. “fly tory trough the ns of four metaphors of postmodermity: *ificuk Hntening” e expt 10, This chapter reflect on my ‘heruin he fagaent, the archive and she sublim 11, Tn this collin, Alan Wong abo sfleets on the enced while inteviewing his fhe. 12, Ae Spiegelman, Maus [A Sursoors Tle: My Father Beds Hisory Net Yor Panton Booka, 1986), Maus 1, A Srsivor’ Tae: And Here My Towbl Began (New York: Pancheon Books, 1992) 13, Altes Waterton and Barbara Rylko-Bauer, “Out of the Shadows of History and “Menor. Personal Family Narave in Ethnogaphics of Rediscovery” Americon Bibel 33,3 (2006): 397-412. 14 Thi, 405, 408. 15, Ibid, 398. 16. Tid, 402 17. thi, 406. 18, Stanley Norkunas, interview by author, August 2005. 19, Nobod) Busnes, dered by Alan Berliner, 1996. 230, Barbers Meyerhot, Number Oar Days (New York: Simon and Schuster, 1978, Bt Anna Shficl and Stacey Zembryck, "Only Human: A Reflesion on the Ethic Ant Methodological Challenges of Working with ‘Dilculé Stories” The Onl “Hiary Review 37,3 (SaznmetFall 2010) 206,208 20. Sec hen Cuehvich, dv Archive of Fedings (Duke Universi Press, 2003) CHAPTER 5 listen and Learn: Familiarity and Feel ig in the Oral History Interview Alan Wong. For several years now, [have been involved have employed, ether in ina numberof research projects chat pastor fal an rl ‘of personal stories. One eral hatred Seer One hc pj rey cnlenortand m in Montreal, Canada, titled Life Stories Bip yr Caen Or He Rh che iterview and interactive theatrical a cepa token ‘eg to engage with ten complete strangers to ae oe he me fen amp tng wo me por omy ial ene messi ps nd mda pas ri (REC) lena activin Monel el smo involving a od history interview with my father saw me probing de is nd any nts 1 wt ppt concn ene ng rough al of ho poe, wold be hy nein ering en, dean and opened inde eo ae Caan cnet. pig non ov Te Ee her intriguing methodological dis wT absorbed ‘pon hr il dicevery: bow I ab ae led ch narrative I heard depended on my rel epeiy ive storyteller. Put another way, in piacere ee eave some: Panerai no iy ne cnet, ions on listening are by no means ttional reflections on tf oper edna he topic ave been atholoie in cleans sch blished in scholarly dr, and countess ers have een p cia ne ering nr try pti eee. Mnf Jam have ended tobe anthropological or sociologkal in nature o = aan and pag spect ofthe neve pros, povig a8 eh bec dna and ln ook ening as oth an a ands ina thn! hve sc ile inthe war of how peeing pesona Tenewer and interviewee can inject momen connection crn noonl the feng ofthe navy heel bt ee eat he ne omplnng tears poncho hei ae sik proceds and progresses swell a beyord is compleon. my own ie a ere ener ana or hsoian hve dicoveed dat how eee comingeton my esnips ens wotmae nord sh tinen having an enormous impacton Siding and eons etme ving ar Tan in tha space acolabomocin beens TET i sl oe ait rion fe en fr oer the yea four pes feng comet ere, ei sev niidual with whore Rad oie tclionsips invective peo Looe ein the pesonl lao « cee gaa pesorne is inconsequential imerviews wi ‘myself asa peforme and anata cil new vi PSSGE dmc wh ly mene. a rio my enn the ona has procure on hy wg shear he nope sd nahe narrative space, In other wo Wh he sory and my bhai in hen sac Tie on re ay of lng othe naar and she maratv bes of listening. practice in orl history: Listening to Strangers : Fa Hourg Arata, a Monee colar who ao cae Mrekodslogy i ck. The purpose of the interview was t© A cenothe stand its connection to her at Se tives being collected for :he Montreal Life Sula Po ieipaiue Thad only conducted one: fag int on eo other ora historian nthe pole. Ts ae reper before to my frst interview with hes 0 Ud ne tee ne. When Lt down wth et Prior to my session with Hous Sure the angst ha m4 er ne maha could beconieet rt ‘source of anxiety for me; the Pf Usten and Learn / 99 of providing 2 good impression and representing the projec in an appropsi- a way t someone whom I knew nothing bout would have ordinarily haa me fumbling for words and sweating buckets. Yer Houtig was beyond hespitable with my videographer, Elena and me, offering us a veritable feast of snacks and putting me at eas with her warm personality. This obviously helped in creating, aasense of comfort as I asked the first question, In terms of listening, however, what was most helpful as the interview progresed was the absence of any shated or common history beeween Hourig tnd me. With no wayward or distract ung thoughts or assumptions arising from pesonal knowledge I might have had about Hourig or her community, sich ae information concerning specific dates or events in er lf, Iwas able to give her any fl, undivided arention. In effec, Iwas ale to immerse myself in cx ato “deep lieing” which Anaa Sheil and Stacey Zembraychi define a “lening for meanings, no just fe, and listening in such away thar prompes more pee found reflection fom the interviewee.” Because my mind was dea of epseano. Jogi clucer, as able vo think more profoundly about Hours nfleerione a process and, consequently ask more contemplative questions in return, This is noe necessary to sy, however, tha his ability eo listen deeply has een consistent with other ora history interviews Ihave done with stage i my sesons with Hourig; sometimes certain conditions, ranging fom he alto the comples, have affected the interview environment. An example the former would be an interview I conducted with Irnian Canadian ane sro Berahmandi, par of whose interview was situated in his sifing unies tioned studio on hot summer day, making minaining focus challenge all partes concerned, On che other end ofthe spectum wat an imerview wich perform, writer and painter Kamala Pupanathan that I had done in her 3. While Kamala was certainly a warm and congenial interviewee, there an se with language berween us tha made i dificuls not only wo under aod communicate with each other wih any sense of catty, but slo, more vy o ascertain the intent behind the words we were speaking In the the incerview was pleasan enough, bu fled to move yond surface devas Twas unable ro engage with her on a deeper evel and, hus, explore she of he if tory with hee uptve as some of these circumstances may be, I have generly found fp be mor the exception than the ule respective ofthe fact chat they ‘Sterna forces exerting pressure on the act of listening rather than the anacing from a more rooted place within cther my interviewers or ‘oor sesion I conducted with Khost in his coal Wat a much more focused affair, procecing inthe same vy a hoa with Hourg. Another stranger to me, gay Italian Canadian come ize Gaspar Borselino, whom I had recrulted for my dissertation MBit Gasp thom I had recruited for my di and airy sparcment Provided me with a successful interview experience in this regard, ——————ltt—“‘S sen and Learn / 101 100 (Alan Wong en us, As activists comprised the project, including thote focused on mass atrctes such a the oxy conmn bond ee mek Holocaust aswell x those perpetrated in places such as Rvanda, Cambodia and munity ding diferent eras— with our sexual orientation the ‘who had been prolific in dhe gay com Le unwed ach ober before Hat staring pafomance that have ben devoted representing hes a of ering oan eee word wee by Fox and Jo Saas in she United Stats in 1975s mprovatonl een rei ecient tg inser te members using different performative forms and techniques thatare determined Fe a et does not dou the fa ha inerviewes may Arn sone nda con wm eos foe cows Ofc th oe eae the perspective of the storyteller, and the performances are grounded in mets, oe cin efi hips hes rier dun «Ihe wling My intnon Ine PP ee tionally and psychol s clarely unencumbered hen I was recruited by a fiend to perform in an ad hoc Playback troupe th he les howese, he peat of Kinin i aly sha was ascmbled forthe opening of the Acs Ae Fen, which maa endeavor Asian Heritage Month in Monuea- Since ten have performed incurs : shows that have addreseda wide array of issues, including lieac, leadership, ee ee ee and women’ tights as well asthe diverse concems of the Montreal Life Stores working groups Having been a practioner of PT for several years now Ihave developed 4 ay of listening chat, while often as free of constraints as my approach co ol history interviews with strangers, has some distinct qualities of is own, as nell. One significane difference is thatthe stares audience members tell in theatrical contexe rend to be brief and anecdotal in nature, rather than drawn fut over several hours like a life story interview. For example, usvlly the {Conduccor will begin a show by asking the audience what has drawn them to arrend that particular performance, and the response is generally short, such Be “I wanted co discover « new form of theate” of “I wanted to explote di neways of storytelling.” The Conductor may try to coax more details om elven audience member, but often a short, one-sentence answer is enotigh und which the group can build a performance. Thus, to “play back” the we will pick a short form such asa fluid sculpture, whereby the actors ‘movement fo create a visual and aural sculpture composed of f bodis and voices that metaphorically reflects the tellers story. For us aston, such one-liners or brief anecdotes are easy both to listen to and to Etpretperformatively, since they are broad enough for us to find our own, five narrative openings. sp ieond difference is that because the tclling is moderated by the mutctor, | have no control as an actor aver the questions being asked in the Ty, heueh during rehearsals before a given performance we, a4 troupe, by discuss the theme ofthe event to which we have been invited and enn, ‘estions that may potentially be used during the show. Ofentimes, mire! Life Stories project, 1 mgonent of the Ma casa in razah can toh a Hoyt Thee (PD coupe THRCTig Histone Ene CD bee pe 5.1, hich ws on se rtrmune sete momen ine proj Thu, we clabored wi th each of the working groups” that sad Lise Ng. Powe Figure LEE ches, ew ih, Alan Wg, ay Ls David Mad, 02 (Ann Wont ‘ve will even invite 2" aman for which we wil be reforming co come £0 OOF f ‘wich some insight into prsforming 0 co her communi and he issue at affect it, For one se allowemual sefugees and Senin ‘Montreal, we invited. sever shoseagi a Toa organiza focusing On PATS! ff concern to allosexual 57 ‘New Canadians,” 102 rehearsal Be ceefet dhem to ell us some tories wHiCD ME then played back using a few Uifeent forms so that dey could have 25 venderstanding of the kind of theater any ofthe acai ha they hace onveyed thet Feelings of lone- s walt we had listened properly in that space we oes dha were relevant co ther were cove se A powever wen i was dane to petform Ge vring, the questions we asked ultimately ing to Canada, AS 2 conseqUenCs, ao eed around ther iscoris prior to com The show fle rather fla 0 me en ri miner a he ci mint ens ca ng ee gem Seed le oT story would be better reflected in a longes form, so she ‘Payback actor how rum not only paying aznsion © i Cot ree moms that inspire metaphors ro the essence of allosexuels that se, she chose me] Twas able © Uncen an Us snd Letn 108 ‘constant motion while standing in place throughout the rave wile iets a cand me nrepone oe pena tii hewn ay ep h a firs ol ibe Ger ay Sax a en jjnco performance through metaphor, whether it be carer ar mat ms together; and the second is listening to the other ae Sie aru rage Fein Siete or accepe them as an offing o agi embodying them in away that respect the teller and his or her his i is or her history and identity—an act of performative Interviews with Friends sommes esate imerecionso nl nd are rey Thorn habe icky see nd tnd sn (RE) vos i i a pty wt ne? ory ts neni he ie i oi ey i Sed ‘snyder dsean vould collect the life stories of friends of tke as varying degrees of background knowledge about them, nor to mention the face chat | was ao “one of them.” However, a I soon discovered, the privileges of fliendship and insder-ness did not necessarily lead roan easier path in the research process, particularly where listening was concerned, “To call REC allosexual activists in Montreal a “community” is a bit of a ‘misnomer. Even if one understands che idea of community in the political sense {s"imagined” as Benedice Anderson famously did, ie would be difficult co apy this notion to cis particular group." While we have, co a certain degree, created of the myriad [i colage-like fragments of the mind’ “a collective identity out ind, as Lam not sure the notion of us as a community might only rst in my mit if other activists would view “us” in the same way. Stil, tis dificult for me to ‘come to any set of conclusions about this, since, as with any concept grounded in Subjectivity, dhe construction ofa given “community” can sift and mutate from roment co moment, location to location, and person to person. Ar the very east, T can say that om my own vantage point, what binds chese individuals to me and me to them are my personal relationships with them. In her theorization of “friendship as method.” Lisa M. Tillmann-Healy sates that “fiendship and fieldwork are similar endeavors” in that both of them “involve being in che world wich others” and [gaining] entrée” into ‘Communities? An amalgam of interpretivism," feminist standpoint theory, {queer methodologies, and participacory action research, fiiendship as method fnswers the eall for inquiry that is open, multivoiced, and emotionally rich." When fused with an “insider identi,” those who engage in friendship as method become, in Jody Taylors words, “intimate insiders.” since the tesucher is working, at the deepest level, within thei [se own “back yrds that is a contemporary cular space with which dhe researcher has regular and ongoing contact where the researcher’ peonalrlaonships tre deeply embedded in the fld; where one’ quotidian interactions and peformances of identity are made visible; wher the researcher hasbeen and Temain 2 key socal actor within the field and thus becomes engaged in 2 proces of se imerpretation co some deyee and where the eseacher spiny fo undocumented historical knowledge of the people and culrural phenom «enon being uid" ly with my own situation. Since T have been deep years, ic became “Taylor's paradigm fis apt entrenched inthe REC allosexual activist scene for almost ren hot only part of my political world, but also my socal wold. I puis thrown by other activist and invited them to my paris, met them fee or a meal of 4 movie, and have gone dancing with them at nigh ‘Though such socializing preceded my diseraion studies, tha also conti ding them, People know me in the community; they turn. to me for at have atene ad 1 them. We conden each her 2 ie ot hap a hein solidariy alongside ach ater hugh come ssPpot to each othe’ cases and share toutes ma den San an expe both empathy with and sympathy for eachother as friends, activists and npathy with and sympathy for cac ets wy for cach other as friends, activists, and REC tell each other our secrets, embrace row, and laugh together, We also ing fom iden polises : pectin of tort a interviews and not others'*; 7 veld ring "he deg known ofthc ley ou shining anode chal Iii sory eno demonstra aan inmate inside, 1 tok ssended may ofthe sme eco 4s my friend- participants. Thus, du lei fr and amipating ms sm in approaching some fiends "and dsingushing in memory what fiends may ime” ofthe research proces fom what was le ofthat time." To these I would add difficulties lenge that is unique to the intimate insider, particu 88 my experience with my dissertation research . and worked on many of the same a luring ur interview sesons,1 fund myst tivo ahch lo hope a re {Esmee schist of i commantyot ens wa hee ee 4 = they were moments that demonstrated our solidarity with ee raconmuniy For cnupls T expected ear penal popes oe femationof Calton MakiMundo-" which war sn topes Aste Howes when aed some ofthe hype necator ig aa ‘most significant events in REC allosexual ac Poneto mnion ip fm uel at See their interviews from beginning to rey opener Eat cemtemmeyacenc me iinet nae 106 / Alan Wong ‘community, but also 10 delve further Inco those areas that I had. personal saestment in_-simply because | adhered too rigidly ro some methodological jules of oral history incerviewing rather than giving myself the flexibility to Capote certain shared areas of history. Iwas so concerned with my fiendshis SSincing” my inerviews that, in some cases, I neglected the historical signifi cance of those fendships altogether In other words, I forgot chat iy selation- Shipe wth my interviewees were justas important co the narratives as any other “Tehrene of their histories, Thus, some of the interviews I collected now feel less omplere—at est insofar asthe depth of perspectives | was hoping to gather— than they could and should have been. Interviews with Family “The story of my coming out a 2 gay man to my parent s nota Pca one. Te-was October 1995, at the University of New Brunswi fom in pare by my parents’ relentless 4 girlfriend. When I expressed my emotional state o sister in Toronto, she gently secret co them, I reluctantly agreed; however, in Mississauga, 2 suburban ci tell chem over the telephone oF wait uncil my ‘Christmas. Neither of these was an appropriate option to me. asked me if { wanted her t0 ‘Thus, the following Saturday, call that I knew would inevitably come tales thar day, as we had arranged it. When the Twas prepared: my father had a volatile temper i to yelling loudly and harshly when he was ang ‘When I picked up the receiver, however, not angry, bu rather somber and melanchalic in t ache a the news, telling me that it was the datkes st day in ‘expressed his heart life, that all he co abd to me was that he wished I had told him ealir so that he would not faveated so much mouey in me. I wae taken aback hy the entire conver purlyned with uncertainty as to how co respond. Ie was. trying momen 0 Tie, one that hoped never to go through again. In the 14 years since ing ous, [felt that my father's mood ardent Confucianist, continued to hold firmly 0 homosexuality.” Although he may nor have accepte his conservative belies sd my gay iden bs nee os pamtnga master dee in eave wtng

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