Remembering and reworking emotions: the reanalysis of emotion in an interview

Oral historians commonly interview older people, yet tend to neglect what is known about the psychology of old age and the significance of an interview in the life of an older person. Researchers likewise come to the interview with agendas, biographies and life stage issues. In the interview situation, these various components, contributed by both sides in the partnership, emerge in ways which can be difficult to deal with at the time, provoking unpredictable emotional responses. Looking back at data generated from such encounters can be revelatory, not only in relation to research goals but in terms of insights into the interviewer's own self-awareness and understanding of the process of interviewing. This article explores these issues by drawing on an interview carried out almost thirty years previously during which a woman in her eighties recalled, with much emotion, an experience from her childhood