New Directions in Queer Oral History

"This is a terrific collection: an outstanding volume of unusual breadth and depth, in a rapidly expanding field of inquiry. With a compelling foreword by Nan Alamilla Boyd, contextualising introduction by three co-editors, and nineteen chapters drawn from diverse oral history projects with innovative methodologies, the book ranges geographically from the country to the city, across Australia, Canada, UK, and US. It engages an astounding array of narrators, from LGBTQ+ children of Holocaust survivors to straight and gay nurses navigating the early AIDS crisis, from intersex and marriage equality activists to trans military veterans. In addition to complex accounts of shame, job loss, reticence, and dissemblance, they tell unforgettable stories of lives lived loud, proud, and against the grain.

As gender and sexuality studies grows ever stronger and richer, these authors’ insights will guide students, inform colleagues, and empower community members for years to come. New Directions in Queer Oral History is an enormously important contribution to scholarship – and to queer cultures around the world."

John Howard, King’s College London, UK

"New Directions in Queer Oral History: Archives of Disruption reminds us why queer oral history is at the cutting edge of oral history practice and theory. Bringing together a diverse range of contributors working on lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, and queer histories in a variety of national contexts, this rich collection provokes us to think again about our practice of oral history and both the limits and radical potential of the stories we generate. Raising difficult questions such as whether it is necessary, or indeed enough, for interviewers to share an LGBTQ+ identity with narrators; how intergenerational dynamics shape both the interview and our wider sense of community and self; and how we respond to the ethical dilemmas of probing traumatic histories, this lively and intimate collection shows how far queer oral history has come and points to the productive and disruptive possibilities of this fascinating field."

Rebecca Jennings, UCL, UK

"New Directions in Queer Oral History is a great book for anyone conducting research on queer oral history. It gives wonderful advice on how to plan and carry out successful oral history interviews. It also helps you to prepare for the interviews and the obstacles you might encounter while interviewing LGBTQ people. Reading about the difficulties and possibilities in queer oral history also gives the reader insight into how to analyze the interviews and how to find a new level of nuance in them. New Directions in Queer Oral History is also a book that I would have needed when I started planning my MA thesis on Finnish trans history. I’m delighted to have this book as a guide now, as I am starting to work on my PhD thesis." - Jean Lukkarinen , University of Turku