The Messy Business of Remembering: History, Memory, and Archives

Abstract

While some archivists may question the relevance of the seemingly esoteric discussion of postmodernism to the practical work of our profession, this article argues for postmodern analysis being deeply relevant to archivists to everything from our acquisition decisions to how we view and relate to our users. One way to frame the pertinence of postmodernism to archives is to take a close look at how the positivist/postmodernist perspectives affect the legitimacy of the uses to which the material in archives can be put. Specifically, this article looks at the still-vibrant argument that something called "history" is a legitimate end to which archives can be put, while something called "memory" (also referred to more broadly as "social memory," the idea that societies-not just individuals create, shape, interpret, and hold memory) is a much less legitimate purpose. Behind each of these end uses is a set of end users: professional historians on the one hand, and amateur researchers of all kinds on the other. And behind each of these purposes is also a distinct set of archival and other documentary material that is more or less legitimate or useful to the end users.

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