The Oral History Method as a Tool for Documentation and Comprehension of The Revolution of Dignity

Abstract

The article analyses the features of the oral history method within the framework of The Revolution of Dignity studying (November, 2013 – February, 2014). The Revolution of Dignity was one of the most important episode of the modern history of Ukraine. It caused a paradigm socio-political shift, socio-cultural transformations and made an impact on the development of the modern Ukrainian nation and national identity. The relevance of the research of the revolution increases as Russian aggression continues. The purpose of the article is to evaluate the oral history method for documentation and history and cultural comprehension of The Revolution of Dignity. The methodology of the research combines systematic and historical-cultural approaches. Chronological, historical retrospective and systematic-structural methods were used as well. The results of the research showed that the oral history method is an important tool for The Revolution of Dignity studying as it allows to document and save individual and collective memory that often stays out of the official historical sources. The oral history method registers emotional, subjective and routine aspects of The Revolution of Dignity that is critical for creation of multidimensional picture of the events. It is underlined that oral testimonies have been becoming reliable sources to establish causal relationships of the events of winter 2013-2014 and current Russian-Ukrainian war. Conclusion. The realised oral history projects and collected materials are highly important for the understanding of The Revolution of Dignity. They establish the sources base for anthropocentric and polyphonic narrative. The documented stories provide the tools to counteract propaganda and history distortion. They also provide the base for national memory of the Ukrainians. The article states that it is very important to continue studying of The Revolution of Dignity using the oral history method.