The Dialogic Process, Relational Approach, and Transformative Aspect of Interviewing

Oral history interviews can often have a far-reaching transformative effect on the narrator as well as on the researcher. The opportunity to be shaped by new perspectives and the chance of being touched by a shared deeply emotional encounter with another human being are inherent in the practice of both therapists and oral historians. This paper focuses on the commonalities that postmodern schools of collaborative and narrative therapy share with oral history, mainly the humanistic and feminist approaches, and offers an interdisciplinary perspective on the interview process. Based on my background in ethnographic and therapeutic practice, I see interviews as a relational dialogic experience. The realization that the relationship is significant to any dialogic process allows for deep responsive listening, creating safe space, and sharing vulnerability. A relational approach honors the way we communicate as complex human beings—not only through words, but also through shared emotions.