Touchstones: Considering the Relationship between Memory and Archives
Abstract
This paper considers the relationship between memory and archives by exploring the concepts of individual and collective memory and by examining the processes involved with creating, capturing, storing, and retrieving memories. The author considers the metaphor of archives as memory and relates our perception of memory to our understanding of the creation, preservation, and use of records and archives. She demonstrates that individual and collective memory represent only a fragment of life events and she reflects on the emotional, temporal, and political realities that affect what we remember and how. She concludes that records and archives are not in themselves “memories” but only touchstones upon which memories may be retrieved, preserved, and articulated.
RÉSUMÉ
Ce texte examine le lien entre la mémoire et les archives en explorant les concepts de la mémoire individuelle et collective et en analysant les processus associés à la création, la saisie, la sauvegarde et le repérage des souvenirs. L’auteure sonde la métaphore des archives comme mémoire, puis elle lie notre perception de la mémoire à une connaissance de la création, de la préservation et de l’usage des documents et des archives. Elle montre que la mémoire individuelle et collective ne représente qu’un fragment des événements d’une vie donnée et elle considère les réalités émotives, temporelles et politiques qui influent sur ce dont on se souvient et comment l’on y parvient. Elle conclue que les documents et les archives ne sont pas d’euxmêmes des « souvenirs », mais qu’ils sont plutôt des balises sur lesquels l’on peut retrouver, préserver et articuler des souvenirs.
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