Dobrodružství historické interpretace

Title in English: The Adventure of Historical Interpretation This collection of nineteen essays written by prominent historians demonstrates the diversity of academic approaches. Their work with historical sources, the foundation stone of research, is combined with ethical and aesthetic decision-making, which forms an indisputable part of their work. This is often surprising - both for the readers and themselves. It represents a great intellectual adventure. They cannot invent sources or set arbitrary rules, plots, and twists and turns, as a novelist might. However, they can write a scientific work which is the result of a creative approach

How the coronavirus (COVID19) pandemic has transformed oral history: coronavirus stories in the Anglo­‑American digitized world

Pandemie koronaviru (covidu-19) na jaře 2020 změnila svět. Zároveň se vynořily různé iniciativy, jejichž cílem bylo zachovat tento historický moment pro budoucí generace. V anglo‑americkém prostředí převládly projekty, které měly prostřednictvím internetu sesbírat osobní příběhy veřejnosti o tom, jak pandemii prožívá. Studie se zabývá tím, kdo byli iniciátoři těchto projektů, proč chtěli příběhy o prožívání pandemie získat, jaká byla forma a obsah těchto příběhů. Výsledky analýzy shrnuté ve studii naznačují, že pro orální historii znamenala pandemie zásadní zkušenost: většina projektů se neodvolávala na orální historii, přesto se jejich výsledky od orálněhistorických projektů příliš nelišily. Orální historie se stala rychlejší, kratší, odehrávala se někdy zcela výhradně v digitál‑ ním prostředí, dokonce bez přispění orálního historika. Budoucnost ukáže, co z těchto znaků krizové formy orální historie zůstane zachováno.In spring 2020, the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic changed the world as it used to be. Simultaneously, various initiatives have emerged intending to preserve this historical moment for future generations. In the Anglo‑American world, the initiatives have predominantly focused on collecting personal stories from the public through Internet. In the article, this need to collect and share stories is analyzed. I explore who were the initiators, why they wanted to collect the experiences of COVID-19 and analyze the aspects of stories. I argue that within a short period of time, oral history has been transformed through this experience: most initiatives didn’t need oral history to come into existence, yet their results are surprisingly comparable to the oral history projects. Oral history has become quicker, shorter, organized through digitized forms, even without oral historians. The future will show which features of this crisis form of oral history will remain

Oral history and memory studies: the diversity or convergence?

The article explores the relationship between two disciplines in historical research – a more traditional oral history and a new field of memory studies – with the aim to examine their diversity as well as their convergence.The article explores the relationship between two disciplines in historical research – a more traditional oral history and a new field of memory studies – with the aim to examine their diversity as well as their convergence

Is it Necessary to Know Feminist Oral History?: About Authors, Methods and Challenges of Oral History Feminism

Orální historie je v České republice dobře etablovaným oborem, stejně jako dějiny žen a gender history. Feministická orální historie však není vůbec známa. Cílem studie je představit anglo‑americkou feministickou orální historii a uvažovat nad příčinami absence tohoto bádání v české orální historii. Studie seznamuje se třemi fázemi vývoje anglo‑americké feministické orální historie, s jejími hlavními protagonistkami a jejich přístupy a teoriemi. Feministická orální historie je v článku považována za zásadní příspěvek v oblasti orálněhistorického procesu a reflexivity orálněhistorické praxe. V závěru studie vyzývá českou orální historii k seznámení s praktikami současné feministické orální historie, což by mohlo vést k přesunu od její převážně dokumentární povahy k větší demokratičnosti a reflexivnosti.Oral history is a well‑established field in the Czech Republic, similarly to women´s history of women and gender history. However, feminist oral history is totally unknown. The goal of this article is to depict Anglo‑American feminist oral history but also to seek the causes of this void. The article describes three stages of the development of Anglo‑American feminist oral history, the main protagonists, their approaches and theories. Feminist oral history is considered by the author as an important contribution to the oral history field in the domains of the oral history process and reflexivity. At the end, the article invites Czech oral historians to learn about the practices of feminist oral history. The author believes this could contribute to a shift of Czech oral history from its predominantly documentary nature to its more democratic and reflexive character

Oral history and memory studies: the diversity or convergence?

The article explores the relationship between two disciplines in historical research – a more traditional oral history and a new field of memory studies – with the aim to examine their diversity as well as their convergence.The article explores the relationship between two disciplines in historical research – a more traditional oral history and a new field of memory studies – with the aim to examine their diversity as well as their convergence

Heinrich Coudenhove-Kalergi and Mitsuko Aoyama: travels, space and time at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries

The article explores travels and the ways of travelling of count Heinrich Coudenhove-Kalergi, father of the founder of pan-European movement Richard Coudenhove-Kalergi, and his wife Mitsuko Aoyama, focusing not only on their travel from Japan to Europe in 1896 but also on the necessity of their further travels in Europe, planned carefully by Heinrich, with the aim to educate Mitsuko.The article explores travels and the ways of travelling of count Heinrich Coudenhove-Kalergi, father of the founder of pan-European movement Richard Coudenhove-Kalergi, and his wife Mitsuko Aoyama, focusing not only on their travel from Japan to Europe in 1896 but also on the necessity of their further travels in Europe, planned carefully by Heinrich, with the aim to educate Mitsuko

Heinrich Coudenhove-Kalergi and Mitsuko Aoyama: travels, space and time at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries

The article explores travels and the ways of travelling of count Heinrich Coudenhove-Kalergi, father of the founder of pan-European movement Richard Coudenhove-Kalergi, and his wife Mitsuko Aoyama, focusing not only on their travel from Japan to Europe in 1896 but also on the necessity of their further travels in Europe, planned carefully by Heinrich, with the aim to educate Mitsuko.The article explores travels and the ways of travelling of count Heinrich Coudenhove-Kalergi, father of the founder of pan-European movement Richard Coudenhove-Kalergi, and his wife Mitsuko Aoyama, focusing not only on their travel from Japan to Europe in 1896 but also on the necessity of their further travels in Europe, planned carefully by Heinrich, with the aim to educate Mitsuko

“The Meaning of His Life Was Work”: The Construction of Identities in the Oral Narratives of Older Czech Men

This article explores the ways in which older Czech men construct their masculine identities. Profiting from the personal memories of individuals who witnessed dramatic social changes in 20th century Czechoslovakia, the study draws on eight oral narratives that focus on the period of older men’s youth but also encompass their adult and later lives. The article identifies five recurrent themes through which older men construct their identities and discusses these outcomes in relation to the debate concerning the nature of gender order in the contemporary Czech Republic. It demonstrates the attachment of older men to the patriarchal masculine models of their youth, which are presented as masculine ideals, but also depicts their reservations towards such models. These reservations, however, do not cause older men to argue in favour of greater equality for women