Death of Luigi Trastulli and Other Stories

Alessandro Portelli is Professor of American Literature at the University of Rome "La Sapienza."

"The essays that Alessandro Portelli has produced on the meaning of oral history are incredibly insightful. The book is a real breakthrough in the analysis of oral history and will stimulate work in the field for years to come." — John Bodnar, Oral History Research Center, and Department of History, Indiana University"I can think of nothing which is so closely tied to actual fieldwork, and which brings such sophisticated theoretical understanding to that fieldwork." — Ronald J. Grele, Director, Oral History Project, Columbia University"This is a simply dazzling collection of essays, some dealing with the methodology of oral history, others giving its results. The insights of the author into the historian's craft and, more specifically, the dynamic between oral historians and their subjects are exceptional. Overall, the essays are beautifully crafted and very well written. The author's erudition is impressive but never overpowering." — Donald Quataert, State University of New York, Binghamton

• Introduction1. The Death of Luigi Trastulli: Memory and the Event I. On Methodology 2. Research as an Experiment in Equality3. What Makes Oral History Different4. "The Time of My Life": Functions of Time in Oral HistoryII. Two Industrial Cultures Section One Terni, Umbria, Italy 5. Dividing the World: Sound and Space in Cultural Transition6. Uchronic Dreams: Working-Class Memory and Possible Worlds7. The Best Garbage Man in Town: Life and Times of Valtàro Peppoloni, Worker8. Sports, Work, and Politics in an Industrial Town9. Typology of Industrial Folk SongSection Two Harlan, Kentucky, United States 10. Patterns of Paternalism: From Company Town to Union Shop11. No Neutrals There: The Cultural Class Struggle in the Harlan Miners' Strike of 1931-32III. The Interdisciplinary Approach 12. The Oral Shape of the Law: The "April 7 Case"13. Absalom, Absalom! : Oral History and LiteratureThe NarratorsNotesIndex