ON THE PRODUCTION OF MY FAIR LION AND HIS PRIDE: A REFLEXIVE EXERCISE IN ORAL HISTORY
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.25159/2412-4265/860Keywords:
My fair lion, autobiographical narrative, reflections, oral history, rememberingAbstract
My fair lion and his pride is an autobiographical narrative of the life story of a respected and beloved, yet reserved and unlettered matriarch. The pleasure of capturing her recollections befell the present author. Consequently, the task of reflecting on the process that led to the production of My fair lion has also befallen him. In the present reflection, the author undertakes a retrospective journey guided by questions pertaining to oral history methodology. The dynamics of an individual remembering past events; the place of formal literacy in memory formation and retrieval; the role of the oral historian in oral history interviews and such other issues are indirectly explored below. In the end, it appears that while this author’s preceding ignorance of oral history considerations may have disadvantaged the production of My fair lion, the latter retains and communicates sufficient qualities not of a grand narrative, but of a down-to-earth Christian mother, wife, and in-law.Metrics
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Accepted 2016-02-02
Published 2016-05-12
