Parallels, Divergences and Crossroads

This paper focuses on two main topics - the development of oral history in the Czech Republic after the Velvet Revolution in 1989, and the important issues and problems currently faced by oral historians in the Czech Republic. After the Velvet Revolution, oral history became desirable for the purposes of democratisation, and also became necessary as there was a lack of "official" written documents. The current "boom" in oral history has had both negative and positive impacts: there exists a misuse of oral history for political purposes and the "hunt for sensation" on the one hand, and "giving voice" and democratisation of history on the other.