Talk explores challenges of oral history and memory

Dona Maria's Story part of book cover

Daniel James, a Bernardo Mendel Chair of Latin American History at Indiana University, will deliver a class discussion followed by a talk on Thursday that explores oral history and memory.

The class discussion will centre on James’ book, Doña María’s Story: Life History, Memory and Political Identity (Duke University Press, 2001), a gripping, poignant life story of a woman who lived and worked for six decades in the meatpacking community of Berisso, Argentina.

Dona Maria's Story book coverRoldán was a union activist and fervent supporter of Juan and Eva Perón. Her evocative testimony has prompted James to analyze the promise and problematic nature of using oral sources for historical research. The discussion will start at 2:30pm

The lecture, “Between History and Memory: Oral History and the Challenge of the Memory Boom”, will take place at 4pm. Both events will be held March 20 at 901 Kaneff Tower, Keele campus. Everyone is welcome.

James is also the author of Resistance and Integration: Peronism and the Argentine Working Class, 1946-1976 (Cambridge University Press, 1988). He has written extensively on collective memory and oral history of Latin America, labour and gender history in the Southern Cone, and modern Argentine history. He received a John Simon Guggenheim Fellowship in 2006.

The discussion and lecture are presented by the Department of History and the Centre for Research on Latin America & the Caribbean.