Allemann, L. The sami of the Kola Peninsula : about the life of an ethnic minority in the Soviet Union / Lukas Allemann ; [transl. by Michael Lomax]. - Rovaniemi : University of Lapland Printing Centre, 2013. - 151 p. : ill., map, portr. ; 25 см. - (Senter for samiske studier, Skriftserie ; 19).

The Sami of the Kola Peninsula Properly performed and interpreted life history interviews are therefore fully repre­ sentative sources for arriving at the perception of a majority of the population. For this one must, as a historian, not only reproduce one's respondents' conceptions of reality, but make out of the interviews more than the simple retelling of the life story. Many other sources, such as state archives, are unable to offer these advantages, ad­ vantages that cannot, however, be exploited without solid theoretical and methodo­ logical foundations. For this reason it is important to bear in mind certain key points when interpreting and reconstructing life stories. These will be elucidated in greater detail in the following sections. 2.2.1 Everyday and scientific interpretation As historians of everyday life, we dive into the life worlds of our interviewees and to try to 'step into their shoes'. However, one needs always to maintain a certain dis­ tance, which we will call epistemological vigilance. We have on the one hand to plunge into the everyday lives of our interviewees and try to understand them, but without on the other hand yielding to the temptation to regard as self-evident what is self-evident to our interviewees. Both their - as much as our - everyday interpreta­ tion and action is aimed at "[...] minimization of doubt. We always fall back on interpretation and action pat­ terns, i.e. consensual forms of interpretation and action. [...] This results in a fur­ ther defining feature of our society, that not everything has to be said. [...] Our daily certainties are to a large degree implicit. Their role lies not in the recogni­ tion of truth, but the coming to grips with our reality. [...] Everyday certainties serve [...] to reduce complexity [...]. Everyday certainties are to a large extent un­ critical and therefore in danger ofproducing illusion . "41 If in our analysis of life stories we apply the same everyday interpretation as we do in our own daily lives and as many of our informants do in their lives, numerous impuls­ es of the life story and the surrounding discourse will remain hidden. Our interpreta­ 41 Gerbel/Sieder 1988, 195. Senterfor samiske studier, Skriftserie nr. 19 15