Methodology

The transcript is a translation from spoken to written word and a collaboration between interviewer and narrator. This translation necessitates imperfect compromises between faithfulness to the spoken interview and clarity of the written text. In our transcriptions, we have sought to preserve the qualities of the oral that can impart meaning to the narrative, while still making light interventions for accessibility and ease of reading. The end result is thus distinct from an interview that only ever existed as a written text. In the final product, we seek equilibrium between what speakers say and how they say it, between the meaning of the narrative and the emotions and unstable complexity of how this meaning is communicated.

Overall, the project is based on the principle of shared authority between the researchers and the interviewees. Given that the former may come from different backgrounds from the latter in terms of sexual orientation, gender identity, ‘race’, social class, age, and to avoid as far as possible relevant power asymmetries, we have tried to ensure that our interviewees have been in control of their narrative as much as possible. In this vein, interviewees have retained full control over how long the discussion lasted and what material was recorded. We have also given the interviewees the opportunity to edit those transcripts before we uploaded them, having informed them of our aim to achieve the abovementioned equilibrium.

For how we developed this methodology, please see these sources:

  • Columbia University Center for Oral History Research, Oral History Transcription GuideLiz Strong, Mary Marshall Clark, and Caitlin Bertin-Mahieux, 2018.
  • Portelli, Alessandro. The Death of Luigi Trastulli, and Other Stories: Form and Meaning in Oral History. Albany, N.Y.: State University of New York Press 1991.
  • Murphy, Kevin P., Jennifer L. Pierce, and Jason Ruiz. “What Makes Queer Oral History Different.” The Oral History Review 43, no. 1 (April 1, 2016): 1–24.