Narrating affect: Archives, affect, and the construction of identity

Abstract

Abstract This paper examines how affect operates within grassroots archival practices as both a structuring force in curatorial work and an outcome of audience engagement. Focusing on identity formation and collective memory in community‐based, non‐institutional archives, the study integrates structuration theory and affect theory through a qualitative case study of the Picun Culture and Arts Museum of Migrant Labourers (PCAMML) in China. Drawing on thematic analysis of the interviews with the curator, exhibition narratives, and visitor responses from guestbooks and social media (2011–2025), the study traces the circulation of affect across curatorial motivation, narrative design, and audience reception. Findings identify three interrelated affective layers: curatorial motivations shaped by exclusion, longing, and hope; exhibition narratives structured to guide affective progression from injury to collective agency; and visitor responses characterized by resonance, recognition, and imaginative mobilization. Affect is shown to function not as a transmissible emotion but as a relational and structural force that mediates between embodied experience and social meaning. By conceptualizing community archives as affective infrastructures, this study extends archival affect theory beyond Western contexts and demonstrates how grassroots archives enable marginalized communities to negotiate belonging, reclaim historical presence, and cultivate cultural agency. The findings suggest the need to expand archival evaluation and collaboration frameworks to account for affective and experiential dimensions of archival practice.

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