To Remember and Forget: Archives, Memory, and Culture

Abstract

Abstract:The idea of archives as collective memory is sometimes employed as a metaphor for discussing the social and cultural role of archives. It is argued here that the idea is more than a metaphor and is supported by theories that would view collections of documents and material artifacts as means of extending the temporal and spatial range of communication. Archives, along with other communicational resources such as oral and ritual tradition, help to transfer information-and thereby sustain memory-from generation to generation. Two examples illustrate the interrelationship of archives and memory within this broadened view of communication and culture. The first arises from attempts to find ways to warn future generations of the location of radioactive waste repositories. The second revolves around pressure to efface from cultural landscapes evidence of tragic events that people wish to forget.

Community Archival Practice: Indigenous Grassroots Collaboration at the Shingwauk Residential Schools Centre

“…This interconnected nature of collective memory can be seen in the work of Kenneth Foote, who cautioned that "the cultural role of the archives is hard to isolate from the contributions of other institutions and traditions." 9 Institutional memories are interdependent; looking at all sides of an issue is essential to creating a collective memory.…”

MLK Boulevard

“…While an institutional discourse requires a certain authority (i.e., historical, political, or philosophical), community organizers' discourse is not authoritative but resistant to how a group would remember certain information and consider it relevant, useful, and needed in their everyday cultural interactions. On this point, Kenneth Foote (1990) in "Remember and Forget," notes that "memory refers to beliefs and ideas held in common by many individuals that together produce a sense of social solidarity and community" (p. 380).…”

Unpopular Archives

“…Thus, silenced can mean many things. Some events and people are silenced or forgotten on purpose, an effacement of violent acts of the past rather forgotten (Foote 1990). Others are silenced by powerful regimes covering their tracks.…”