Session 3 Memory and Identity
Thursday 10 April 3.40-5.00
Heather Home
- Public Services Archivist
- Queen's University Archives
Aspects of memory
Archives have often been thought of as the warehouses of collective or societal memory. This paper will explore the role of memory, in both its physical and metaphysical state, in the field of archival study. The functionality of individual human memory is investigated in order to understand how it operates and becomes co-opted into an institutional archival setting. Since it is the archivist's goal to reflect and collect societal memory through the documentary heritage of the populace, it is important for archivists to be aware of the way in which memory functions within the individuals who make up that population.
In terms of societal memory and history, individual memory can become both amplified and diluted in its application to this grander framework. By examining both the distortions and consistencies which occur in this conceptual expansion our understanding of the archival project to manage and participate in societal memory may improve. Societal memory, as represented in archival institutions, is widely regarded as holding the solutions to so many unanswered, and some as yet unasked, questions.
The image of archivists as keepers of the past is pervasive, but unlike the mind of the individual, archives are thought not to retain any waste or debris, but rather to hold the products and riches of society's documentary heritage. Is this truly the function of archives, to be a cure, healing the partial or incomplete memory of the past, amassing and attending to the snagged and abscessed bits and thus creating a cohesive whole? Many archives are so mandated, and seek to retain this unified whole, comprising the social or collective memories of the cultures in which they participate. It is proposed that formation of this broader collective memory of society does not differ vastly from memories retained by individuals and that much can be learned through a study of the relationship of these processes.
Heather Home (B.A. Honours (Trent), M.A.S. (U.B.C.)) has been the Public Services Archivist at Queen's University Archives, Kingston, Ontario since September 2001. Prior to arriving at Queen's, she worked at the Provincial Archives of Alberta and the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (Vancouver). Heather currently sits on the Board of the Association of Canadian Archivists as well as a number of community-based organizations. Her current research interests include the documentation and conservation of media arts heritage, early 20th century Canadian women artists, and the use of archival material in creation of imaginative works.
Craig Gauld
- HATII, University of Glasgow
From Things To Experiences: Relativism, Identity and the Archive
We do not need to rehash Michel Foucault to understand that in an age of post-modernism the archive is the law of what can be said, how it can be said and when it can be said. As one of the core tenets of post-modernism is the fragmentation of meta-narratives and the sanctification of that which we call the 'other', one would expect that the ability for the 'other' to be heard and represented through the archive would be assured. Indeed the archive has responded to these developments by creating interfaces designed solely for what has traditionally been called 'minorities' and, in some cases, we have witnessed the creation of specific 'minority' archives. This has progressed in line with developments propagated by the theory of multi-culturalism, a side-effect of which has been the pernicious effect of relativism which has infiltrated society and manifested conditions of antagonism, fear, and in some cases fundamentalism. This paper wishes to respond to these developments by arguing that in severing the connection to the record in favour of representations, the record becomes little more than a prop or stimuli through which we manufacture 'experiences'. In so doing, we in the archive world are managing to achieve the opposite effect of that intended by creating a homogeneity based upon essentialist notions of identity through which the individual is depersonalised, continues to be viewed as the 'other', and is offered no opportunity to find his/her voice. If the archive is central to how society views itself then the archive is a symbol of the vacuous and divisive nature of modern life.
Craig Gauld is a 3rd Year PhD student in the Department of Hatii at the University of Glasgow, supervised by Michael Moss and James Currall. He is the holder of an MSc (distinction) in Information Management and Preservation from the University of Glasgow, has been employed by the University of Strathclyde Archives and Ayrshire County Council, and is currently the International Council on Archives Section of Business and Labour Archives Project Officer.
Nick Barratt
- Founder, Nation's Memory Bank
Memory, history and social networks
Dr Nick Barratt obtained his PhD in state finance and fiscal history from King's College, London in 1996. He then worked at the Public Record Office, now The National Archives, from 1996-2000 before leaving to work as a specialist researcher at the BBC, whilst establishing Sticks Research Agency. Programme credits include 'House Detectives', 'Invasion', 'Omnibus' and the BAFTA-nominated 'Seven Wonders of the Industrial World'. Since 2002, he has moved into presenting, including the triple-BAFTA nominated 'Who Do You Think You Are', 'History Mysteries', 'Hidden House History' and 'So You Think You're Royal' on television, and 'Tracing Your Roots' for Radio 4. Publications include 'Tracing the History of Your House' (National Archives), 'The Family Detective' (Ebury) and two 'Who Do You Think You Are' volumes (Harper Collins), as well as numerous academic articles and volumes on medieval history. He writes a weekly column for the Daily Telegraph and, as Chief Executive for Firebird Media, runs an online personal heritage resource called Nations' Memorybank.