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A review by jsjammersmith
Bodies of Evidence: The Practice of Queer Oral History by
5.0
An oral history is ultimately a recording that says that somebody was here. That they existed and lived. LGBTQ history is something that is new and developing, and because the voices of the community were typically silenced or else snuffed out completely the oral record becomes something that isn't just important, it's vital. When there are still voices attempting to silence the Queer community, or else label us as something obscene or corrupt, the record that shows queer people as simply people trying to live and love the same as everybody else is a necessary record.
Bodies of Evidence is not just a collection of Interviews and companion essays, it's a collection that provides the Oral Historian ideas and concepts to consider as they approach the daunting task of recording the voices, memories, and stories of queer people who survived to tell their stories. The book constantly asks the reader to not just listen to the narrators (word for people being interviewed), but to consider how the interviewers might have affected the recording by their questions, actions, identities, and associations. It asks the reader to consider how the Oral recording is not just a list of events the narrator remembers, but their feelings of the events. It is a document that reminds the reader that as we read and listen to their stories, we grow too and that history is a constantly living discourse about what humanity is and how it changes.
This book is a must for any person considering beginning the task of Oral History, but it's also a beautiful addition to any Queer library because it offers another means of recording that beautiful statement, "We're Here, We're Queer," and it offers a new ending, "And we were here."
Bodies of Evidence is not just a collection of Interviews and companion essays, it's a collection that provides the Oral Historian ideas and concepts to consider as they approach the daunting task of recording the voices, memories, and stories of queer people who survived to tell their stories. The book constantly asks the reader to not just listen to the narrators (word for people being interviewed), but to consider how the interviewers might have affected the recording by their questions, actions, identities, and associations. It asks the reader to consider how the Oral recording is not just a list of events the narrator remembers, but their feelings of the events. It is a document that reminds the reader that as we read and listen to their stories, we grow too and that history is a constantly living discourse about what humanity is and how it changes.
This book is a must for any person considering beginning the task of Oral History, but it's also a beautiful addition to any Queer library because it offers another means of recording that beautiful statement, "We're Here, We're Queer," and it offers a new ending, "And we were here."