Controlling the Field: Memory, Labor, and Ethics in Oral Histories of Brazilian Human Genetics

Abstract

This article examines how oral histories of twentieth century human genetics in Brazil reveal the politics of memory of fieldwork. Through a comparative analysis of interviews with prominent geneticist Francisco M. Salzano and technician Girley V. Simões, who worked with him for most of his career, we explore the narrative strategies each used to establish their historical accounts. Attending reflexively to the oral history encounters, we examine how each narrator negotiated his professional identity and moral legitimacy in light of changing ethical norms surrounding research with Indigenous communities. Simões’ vivid recollections foreground invisible forms of technical and logistical labor, offering him the opportunity to recast his own position as one of active knowledge-making. Salzano’s controlled and diplomatic accounts, by contrast, illustrate how the senior scientist curated memory to stabilize his professional legacy and defend disciplinary ethics in the wake of controversy. Contrasting Salzano and Simões’ approaches to describing their shared experiences drives home the complex social and political realities of narrating fieldwork, as well as the political valences of remembering and documenting these histories in the present.