Overview

Portelli offers a new and challenging approach to oral history, with an interdisciplinary and multicultural perspective. Examining cultural conflict and communication between social groups and classes in industrial societies, he identifies the way individuals strive to create memories in order to make sense of their lives, and evaluates the impact of the fieldwork experience on the consciousness of the researcher. By recovering the value of the story-telling experience, Portelli's work makes delightful reading for the specialist and non-specialist alike.

Full Product Details

Author:   Alessandro Portelli
Publisher:   State University of New York Press
Imprint:   State University of New York Press
Dimensions:   Width: 14.00cm , Height: 2.50cm , Length: 21.60cm
Weight:   0.490kg
ISBN:  

9780791404300

ISBN 10:   0791404307
Pages:   358
Publication Date:   22 January 1991
Audience:   Professional and scholarly ,  Professional and scholarly ,  Professional & Vocational ,  Postgraduate, Research & Scholarly
Format:   Paperback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   Awaiting stock  
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Table of Contents

"Introduction 1. The Death of Luigi Trastulli: Memory and the Event I. On Methodology 2. Research as an Experiment in Equality 3. What Makes Oral History Different 4. ""The Time of My Life"": Functions of Time in Oral History II. Two Industrial Cultures Section One Terni, Umbria, Italy 5. Dividing the World: Sound and Space in Cultural Transition 6. Uchronic Dreams: Working-Class Memory and Possible Worlds 7. The Best Garbage Man in Town: Life and Times of Valtaro Peppoloni, Worker 8. Sports, Work, and Politics in an Industrial Town 9. Typology of Industrial Folk Song Section Two Harlan, Kentucky, United States 10. Patterns of Paternalism: From Company Town to Union Shop 11. No Neutrals There: The Cultural Class Struggle in the Harlan Miners' Strike of 1931-32 III. The Interdisciplinary Approach 12. The Oral Shape of the Law: The ""April 7 Case"" 13. Absalom, Absalom! : Oral History and Literature The Narrators Notes Index"

Reviews

The essays that Alessandro Portelli has produced on the meaning of oral history are incredibly insightful. The book is a real breakthrough in the analysis of oral history and will stimulate work in the field for years to come. - John Bodnar, Oral History Research Center, and Department of History, Indiana University I can think of nothing which is so closely tied to actual fieldwork, and which brings such sophisticated theoretical understanding to that fieldwork. - Ronald J. Grele, Director, Oral History Project, Columbia University This is a simply dazzling collection of essays, some dealing with the methodology of oral history, others giving its results. The insights of the author into the historian's craft and, more specifically, the dynamic between oral historians and their subjects are exceptional. Overall, the essays are beautifully crafted and very well written. The author's erudition is impressive but never overpowering. - Donald Quataert, State University of New York, Binghamton

Author Information

"Alessandro Portelli is Professor of American Literature at the University of Rome ""La Sapienza."""

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