Oral History Workshops Draw Public Interest

Oral History workshops organised by the Ottoman Bank Archive and Research Museum and Sabancı University were attended by 200 people, among them lecturers, history teachers, Masters and PhD students, artists, architects and NGO representatives.

The workshops were led by Assistant Professor Leyla Neyzi from Sabancı University. She has used oral history extensively, and a book collecting a variety of her articles was published by İletişim Publications in 2004: “Ben Kimim?” Türkiye’de Sözlü Tarih, Kimlik ve Öznellik / “Who am I?” Oral History, Identity and Subjectivity in Turkey.

Methodology and Use

Participants in the workshops came from many provinces in Turkey. 70 percent of the participants were female, 30 percent were students.

The aim of the workshops was to allow for a meeting of history and oral history/collective memory studies, to introduce the method of oral history and to spread its use in Turkey. Following the workshops, a further aim is to create an oral history archive with professional projects and to publish these on a website and in print.

Importance of remembering

A few years ago, Neyzi spoke to the New York Times about Turkey's attitude to history. “We have started to think very differently about our history,” she said.  “The past is being rethought in terms of the demands of the present.”

She also admitted that this could cause conflict, as "All the skeletons in the closet are spilling out."

Public discourses in Turkey on historical events are rapidly changing; increasinly, opinions dissenting with the "official history" are being offered. (EÜ/AG)