New Directions in Queer Oral History: Archives of Disruption

by Clare Summerskill (Editor), Amy Tooth Murphy (Editor), Emma Vickers (Editor)

This comprehensive international collection reflects on the practice, purpose, and functionality of queer oral history, and in doing so demonstrates the vibrancy and innovation of this rapidly evolving field. Drawing on the roots of oral history’s original commitment to "history from below" queer oral history has become an indispensable methodology at the heart of queer studies. Expanding and extending the existing canon, this book offers up key observations about queer oral history as a methodology, and how it might be advanced through cutting edge approaches. The collection contains a mix of contributions from established scholars, early career researchers, postgraduate students, archivists, and activists, ensuring its accessibility and wide appeal. The go-to reference for queer oral history for scholars, undergraduate and postgraduate students, and community-engaged practitioners, New Directions in Queer Oral History advances rigorous methodological and theoretical debates and constitutes a significant intervention in the world of oral history.

Genres: Oral History, Nonfiction, Queer, History

220 pages, Paperback

Published April 26, 2022

Reviews

[Dasha · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a diverse and wonderful collection that showcases the different ways interviewing can take place and the different ways we can go about and read our interviews in queer histories. The chapter on Black AIDS activism and George Severs' article on a gay priest and renitence are stand out examples. The collection also does a good job featuring lesbian and bisexual examples of oral history. In academia often the content of the interview is the words spoken by the interviewee but this collection highlights the importance of silence, laughs, sarcasm, and interviewer positionality. Highly recommend!

[Lotus · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lovely collection of short articles about many different queer oral history projects. Especially helpful for me in conversations about shared authority in the interview process, carefully navigating reticence from interviewees, using personal archives in oral history works, and lots of interesting talk about searching for bisexuality in the archives. Every chapter has something unique and interesting to share.

My favorite article: "I gotta go" Mobility as a queer methodology by Anne Balay