Psychosocial Notebook - IOM Publications - International ...
Psychosocial Notebook - IOM Publications - International ...
Psychosocial Notebook - IOM Publications - International ...
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Chapter 1 • Silvia Salvatici<br />
and their subjects, of memory’s role in altering the socio-political context,<br />
and the ways in which this same socio-political context may influence the<br />
process of recollection.<br />
Interviews<br />
The collection of interviews constituted the other main activity of the<br />
Archives of Memory in Kosovo, and was carried out by a team of local<br />
staff and so-called “internationals”. Given this varied group, we were<br />
faced with the problem, at the very beginning of our research, of choosing<br />
those who would act as interviewers. By then, working with the students<br />
had shown us that having had similar experiences as the interviewees, and<br />
belonging to the same social and cultural context as they did, were assets<br />
of great potential. We also knew that the presence of one or more members<br />
of an international community, which had and still does play an important<br />
bulky role in the past and present experience of the Kosovars, could<br />
strongly influence the interviewee’s form of narration and memory tracking.<br />
On the other hand, we were also aware of the fact that we, as “internationals”<br />
had been casting our presence on the outcome of the conversation<br />
even in our absence, as the interviews, which were separated from the<br />
offered counselling, were taken for the Archives of Memory: the creation<br />
of an international organization. Our presence during the interviews might<br />
simply serve to add transparency to a connection that was already implied,<br />
and would probably stress the mechanisms of a collective self-representation<br />
addressed to the international community. Between these two considerations,<br />
we thus adopted a rather flexible solution: during most of the<br />
encounter, international and local interviewers acted together, and at other<br />
times (depending upon the context in which the interview was taken, the<br />
relationship between interviewer and interviewees, etc.), the local or international<br />
researcher(s) continued the interview alone with the subject.<br />
Another concern closely related to the composition of the interviewing<br />
group was, of course, that of language. One member of the local staff often<br />
took on the additional role of interpreter. It is important to remember that<br />
this position is not a purely technical one, as it implies a cultural mediation,<br />
nor is it entirely neutral, as the interpreter must establish his/her own<br />
relationship with the interviewee, which must be different from the interviewee’s<br />
relationship with the international staff. The interpreter is thus<br />
left with potentially extensive control over the course of conversation. For<br />
this reason, interpreters were considered active members of their research<br />
group, and included in all phases of interview planning. They brought<br />
their own perspectives to these planning discussions, and the resulting<br />
interview was considered, in part, the result of their specific suggestions<br />
and contributions.<br />
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