What is it that oral historians do? Prior to the publication of Envelopes of Sound oral history was regarded as an archival practice and interviews were considered the repositories of data. Envelopes shows that the interview is a series of dialectical relationships embedded in language, social practice, and historical imagination. It merges theory and method through the analysis of the basic structures of the interview. It incorporates new thinking on the nature of narrative and conversation, and it covers new ground in examining fieldwork in a number of disciplines. While strongly...

This volume marks the transformation of the "International Journal of Oral History from a journal" publication to an annual. The objective of the publication remains the same: providing a forum for articles on oral history methodologies and research perspectives.

This year thirteen articles are presented. Following Ronald Grele's overview introduction, the world of the Japanese silk weaver is explored by Tamara Hareven. Selma Leydesdorff examines the making of a collective identity among workers in Amsterdam, while John Bodnar looks at the Polish immigrant experience. Issues of black...