Movement without aim Methodological and Theoretical Problems in Oral History Ronald J.Grele

This article is the 4th one from the whole 39 articles presented in “The Oral History Reader”, a specialized resource in oral history discourse. It was published by Routledge in 1998, simultaneously in England, USA and Canada, then republished in 2003 and 2015. Being authored by specialist researchers, the articles included in this book discuss some issues in oral history discourse such as: oral history development, methods of interview, conditions of oral history in contemporary historiography as well as stand for oral history projects, only a few of which have been translated to Persian. Ronald J. Grele, is the director of Oral History Research Office in Columbia University. He mentions some of the advantages and disadvantages of oral history methodology in this article, and discusses its use within historical research discourse. The author also reviews the criticism faced by oral history approaches, and gives some recommendations to the oral historians in order to overcome the constructive criticisms, qualify the oral history projects, and also encourage the historians to trust oral history outcomes.