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« 2025. # 6 (186)

The Ethnology Notebooks. 2025. № 6 (186), 1434—1445

UDK 94:[303.6:005.921.1-022.324:930.25]:355.4(470+571-651.1:477)”202”

DOI https://doi.org/10.15407/

FROM ORAL TESTIMONY TO ARCHIVAL DOCUMENT: ARCHIVING PRACTICES IN ORAL HISTORY

BODNAR Halyna

  • ORCID: http://orcid.org/0000-0002-7972-8111
  • Candidate of History, Associate Professor,
  • Ivan Franko National University of Lviv,
  • Mykhailo Hrushevsky Chair
  • of Contemporary History of Ukraine,
  • 1, Universytetska Str., 79000, Lviv, Ukraine,
  • Contacts: e-mail: halyna.bod@gmail.com

Abstract. Introduction. As of today, oral history in Ukraine is a well-known research method and, simultaneously, a separate branch of the historical knowledge. The Revolution of Dignity in winter 2013—2014 and the Russian-Ukrainian war starting from 2014 have shifted chronological frames of Ukrainian oral history studies. In 2022, Ukrainian oral historians faced the challenge of documenting testimonies of the ongoing war. There is a significant increase in interest in the practice of recording oral testimonies. Therefore, the question arises with increasing urgency: what will happen to these recordings next? It is important to promote knowledge about the methodological approaches and ethical standards of oral history and to adapt them to the conditions of the ongoing war. At the same time, equally important questions of archiving arise. How can we prevent the collected testimonies from being lost in private collections? How can they be processed, systematized, and preserved as part of the national documentary heritage?

The purpose of this article is to highlight the key issues of archiving oral testimonies based on established practices and the author’s personal experience in implementing oral history projects. It is important to consider the entire archiving process from the moment the interview is recorded to its storage in the archive. What are the typical situations? What problems may arise, and how can they be resolved? How can the archiving process be made clear and accessible to everyone, especially people outside the academic community?

The research methodology is based on the principles of objectivity, the application of general scientific methods of synthesis and systematic. Descriptive and problem chronological approaches, as well as methods of structural and functional analysis were used during the analysis of the construction principles and characteristics of the digital archives.

Conclusion. Archiving in oral history begins at the planning stage. An oral history archive contains audio or video recordings of interviews, accompanying documents, transcripts or indexing, as well as photographs, documents and other materials related to the conversation. Today, it is important to digitise all materials. Digitisation helps to better preserve large collections and make them accessible to researchers and the wider public. Archiving is much more than simply storing materials on a shelf or on a computer. It is the process of creating «living» collections, which involves skilful communication, presentation and promotion of the collected material.

Keywords: oral history, archiving, oral history archive, oral testimony, interview, digitization, Russian-Ukrainian war.

Received 20.10.2025

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