Local History in the Library: Listening to South Tyrolean Stories

Abstract

The term 'oral history' generically defines the historical research methodology which collects memories and personal commentaries of historical significance through recorded interviews. An oral history interview usually consists of a well-prepared interviewer listening to an interviewee and recording their conversations in audio or video format. The recordings are transcribed, summarised or catalogued and stored in a library or archive. These interviews can be used for research purposes or released in a publication, a radio or video documentary, a museum exhibition or a theatre performance.

Between 2003 and 2007, the South Tyrolean historian Giorgio Delle Donne conducted oral history interviews to document the experiences of people who had settled in South Tyrol. By the end of the project, he had interviewed 148 people, ‘privileged witnesses’ of local history selected from the Italian-speaking community of South Tyrol. He stored these interviews in the Italian Provincial Library «Claudia Augusta» in Bolzano/Bozen to provide schoolteachers with the opportunity to use these video interviews in their teaching of local history. Over the years, the library has continued collecting interviews to document local history.

This paper focuses on the collaborative work between librarians and interviewees building a unique local history collection. The voices of the individuals represent the multiplicity of perspectives in dialogue with each other, this way reinforcing the process of recognition...