Comments on: Emotional Commitment to the Subjects of Research http://prisonnotebooks.com/2008/04/11/emotional-commitment-to-the-subjects-of-research/ Tue, 08 May 2012 23:35:10 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.2 By: Sayaka http://prisonnotebooks.com/2008/04/11/emotional-commitment-to-the-subjects-of-research/comment-page-1/#comment-1558 Sayaka Tue, 03 Jun 2008 11:52:20 +0000 http://prisonnotebooks.com/?p=156#comment-1558 <p>Hi Max, thank you for your insightful comments. I have never done oral history by myself so I can only imagine the difficulty in presenting information that you get from people you directly speak to. I really want to hear your comments on Morris-Suzuki's book when you read it.</p> Hi Max, thank you for your insightful comments. I have never done oral history by myself so I can only imagine the difficulty in presenting information that you get from people you directly speak to. I really want to hear your comments on Morris-Suzuki’s book when you read it.

]]> By: Max B. http://prisonnotebooks.com/2008/04/11/emotional-commitment-to-the-subjects-of-research/comment-page-1/#comment-1556 Max B. Tue, 03 Jun 2008 09:22:40 +0000 http://prisonnotebooks.com/?p=156#comment-1556 "You need to be patient, follow leads, and have a light touch with theory." NB-by 'you' I mean 'you in general.' “You need to be patient, follow leads, and have a light touch with theory.”

NB-by ‘you’ I mean ‘you in general.’

]]> By: Max B. http://prisonnotebooks.com/2008/04/11/emotional-commitment-to-the-subjects-of-research/comment-page-1/#comment-1555 Max B. Tue, 03 Jun 2008 09:20:02 +0000 http://prisonnotebooks.com/?p=156#comment-1555 Sayaka- I have been lurking on this site for a while and wanted to post... I am not a historian (I'm an ethnographer), but I am doing some work with living people who have access to historical materials. The content of the material is politicized, though not quite to this extent. I can say that this is a tricky situation, both in terms of research ethics, and in terms of how one represents the people involved. The biggest worry is giving a false sense of objectivity: usually the people you are speaking to have thought long and hard about the things they know, and their way of thinking isn't going to be the same as yours. Plus, they actually do know more than you do. In this situation, writing like a reporter can be helpful. In particular, one wants to represent the encounter with that person 'as it happened,' since there is the feeling that if you distort (or interpret) anything that person said, you are somehow harming them personally. Of course, I haven't read Morris-Suzuki's book (although I should), so I'm not sure how much I can say. I am a little disturbed by the idea that everything in the book is 'dramatic' since it could be taken to mean 'they are so different from us!' And as far as over-determining what each piece of information means, I am tempted to do this too. Sometimes there is not much available-the city has meticulous records on the sewer system but nothing that expresses everyday life, etc. You need to be patient, follow leads, and have a light touch with theory. Sayaka-

I have been lurking on this site for a while and wanted to post…

I am not a historian (I’m an ethnographer), but I am doing some work with living people who have access to historical materials. The content of the material is politicized, though not quite to this extent.

I can say that this is a tricky situation, both in terms of research ethics, and in terms of how one represents the people involved. The biggest worry is giving a false sense of objectivity: usually the people you are speaking to have thought long and hard about the things they know, and their way of thinking isn’t going to be the same as yours. Plus, they actually do know more than you do.

In this situation, writing like a reporter can be helpful. In particular, one wants to represent the encounter with that person ‘as it happened,’ since there is the feeling that if you distort (or interpret) anything that person said, you are somehow harming them personally.

Of course, I haven’t read Morris-Suzuki’s book (although I should), so I’m not sure how much I can say. I am a little disturbed by the idea that everything in the book is ‘dramatic’ since it could be taken to mean ‘they are so different from us!’

And as far as over-determining what each piece of information means, I am tempted to do this too. Sometimes there is not much available-the city has meticulous records on the sewer system but nothing that expresses everyday life, etc. You need to be patient, follow leads, and have a light touch with theory.

]]> By: Sayaka http://prisonnotebooks.com/2008/04/11/emotional-commitment-to-the-subjects-of-research/comment-page-1/#comment-1345 Sayaka Sat, 12 Apr 2008 04:52:07 +0000 http://prisonnotebooks.com/?p=156#comment-1345 <p>Hi Jonathan, thank you for the comment. Her book is very interesting, I have to admit. Ya, that's possible. Or the audience she images is wider than usual history books, I guess.</p> Hi Jonathan, thank you for the comment. Her book is very interesting, I have to admit. Ya, that’s possible. Or the audience she images is wider than usual history books, I guess.

]]> By: Sayaka http://prisonnotebooks.com/2008/04/11/emotional-commitment-to-the-subjects-of-research/comment-page-1/#comment-1344 Sayaka Sat, 12 Apr 2008 04:34:53 +0000 http://prisonnotebooks.com/?p=156#comment-1344 <p>Hello, Drunken Monkey. Thank you very much for your comment. Yeah, you are right. I agree that history writing should be interesting and engaging. But you'll probably see what I mean if you flip through her book... too many "I said this to him, and he said that to me"s. I guess that makes this book partially a memoir of hers, but I question the precision in the flow of her thoughts and actions if we see it as a primary source for contemporary history.</p> Hello, Drunken Monkey. Thank you very much for your comment. Yeah, you are right. I agree that history writing should be interesting and engaging. But you’ll probably see what I mean if you flip through her book… too many “I said this to him, and he said that to me”s. I guess that makes this book partially a memoir of hers, but I question the precision in the flow of her thoughts and actions if we see it as a primary source for contemporary history.

]]> By: Jonathan Dresner http://prisonnotebooks.com/2008/04/11/emotional-commitment-to-the-subjects-of-research/comment-page-1/#comment-1343 Jonathan Dresner Sat, 12 Apr 2008 03:33:01 +0000 http://prisonnotebooks.com/?p=156#comment-1343 I haven't read it, though it sounds fascinating. The tendency to over-read evidence is a powerful one -- though my natural mode is to under-read. It could be that she's trying to prevent the kind of backlash that sometimes comes when you do histories of living persons, where they don't feel you've taken them seriously enough. I haven’t read it, though it sounds fascinating. The tendency to over-read evidence is a powerful one — though my natural mode is to under-read.

It could be that she’s trying to prevent the kind of backlash that sometimes comes when you do histories of living persons, where they don’t feel you’ve taken them seriously enough.

]]> By: Drunken Monkey http://prisonnotebooks.com/2008/04/11/emotional-commitment-to-the-subjects-of-research/comment-page-1/#comment-1342 Drunken Monkey Sat, 12 Apr 2008 02:29:24 +0000 http://prisonnotebooks.com/?p=156#comment-1342 Hi, I have been a lurker on your website for a few weeks. Your Tessa Morris-Suzuki comment is interesting, although I haven't read the book. One of the interesting things I find about being a historian is how emotionally invested I am in dead people. I try to understand them as well as those who knew them for their whole lives. It is a wholly one-sided relationship, and emotionally unhealthy. But it doesn't make their stories any less thrilling or emotional to tell. The drama, I agree, is located within the sources. One does not need to know that these people are still alive to find "the real story." But, then again, historians are also salesmen. We need a hook to reel our readers in. After all, what is the point of a good history if nobody reads it? Hi, I have been a lurker on your website for a few weeks. Your Tessa Morris-Suzuki comment is interesting, although I haven’t read the book. One of the interesting things I find about being a historian is how emotionally invested I am in dead people. I try to understand them as well as those who knew them for their whole lives. It is a wholly one-sided relationship, and emotionally unhealthy. But it doesn’t make their stories any less thrilling or emotional to tell.

The drama, I agree, is located within the sources. One does not need to know that these people are still alive to find “the real story.”

But, then again, historians are also salesmen. We need a hook to reel our readers in. After all, what is the point of a good history if nobody reads it?

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