literature review

The design of this project is drawn upon theoretical underpinnings associated with the role of narrative in people’s lives and essentially in knowledge construction. Bruner (1986) differentiated between two distinct ways that humans order experience. He called the first one paradigmatic, which refers to organising thought that is logico-scientific, based on reasons. The second way that humans order experience, according to Bruner, is narrative and deals with the creation of stories.

The importance of conducting oral history research is tremendous as in bringing together all persons interested in oral history to collect and interpret human memories, fosters knowledge and human dignity. The basic work of oral history is to collect memories and personal commentaries of historical significance through recorded interviews (Ritchie, 2003).

The Oral History Association (www.oralhistory.org) states that:
Oral history is a field of study and a method of gathering, preserving and interpreting the voices and memories of people, communities, and participants in past events. Oral history is both the oldest type of historical inquiry, predating the written word, and one of the most modern, initiated with tape recorders in the 1940s and now using 21st-century digital technologies.

A mapping exercise has been conducted sketching out what has already been done both formally and informally in Cyprus. The foreign experiences used is twofold:

1) stories with overlapping and similar historical backgrounds, which are contextually comparable, for example, issues pertaining to peace education, ethnic conflict, war and occupation, truth and reconciliation, and
2) stories that are useful examples of oral history research methodology.