TRANS.ARCH — Archives in Transition: Collective Memories and Subaltern Uses

Results in brief

Archives in Transition: Collective Memories and Subaltern Uses

Archives have a considerable influence on the formation of collective memory. As memory repositories, they can contribute to the transmission of information between generations. TRANS.ARCH has created a network of researchers, both young and experienced, who have been studying current uses and functions of archives in the context of globalization and digitalization. In relation to this, we have been examining the technical, cultural, aesthetic and medial aspects of the digitalization of knowledge, since the transition from analogue archives to digital archives is changing the relationship between the public and the private. In the current phase of globalization, in which times and geographical spaces are fragmented and interconnected again, the archival ratio is modified. In the field of memory studies, there is a broad consensus that interrogating and amplifying national and transnational politics of memory can strengthen democratic structures. Discussions around the politics of memory reveal the centrality of archives, especially when it comes to the experiences and the knowledge of subaltern groups, historically excluded from public debates. TRANS.ARCH focuses on a relatively unexplored dimension of this field, namely the different political, judicial, cultural, and artistic uses of the archives deployed by migrant groups and sexual dissidents in Europe and Latin America. As a result, the transatlantic structure of the consortium of institutions involved in the project encouraged a comparative analysis of the European and Latin American contexts, the innovative focus on the uses of archives by migrants and sexual dissidents has demanded that researchers create a new transdisciplinary approach, with a strong gender perspective. TRANS.ARCH’s own archive organization and acquisition can serve as a methodological example and motivation for other fields of study. Finally, the project not only brought together selected methodologies and theorical approaches, but also explored new interpretations and use of the concept of archive itself.

Data: CORDIS, © European Union

Project objective

In the field of memory studies, there is broad consensus that questioning the interwoven national and transnational collective memories can strengthen democratic structures. These conflicts around memory processes reveal the central importance of archives, especially when dealing with experiences and knowledges of subalternized groups, historically excluded from public debates. Archives, the central object of this project, allow new elaborations of historical and social models, but also provide a basis for rethinking the cultural heritage of societies. The TRANS.ARCH project focuses on a relatively unexplored dimension of this field, namely, the different political, judicial, cultural and artistic uses of archives deployed by collectives of migrants and sexual dissidents in Europe and in Latin America. In connection with this, medial, technical, cultural and aesthetic aspects of the digitalization of knowledge are examined, since the transition to digital archives is changing the relationship between public and private. In the current phase of globalization, in which times and geographic spaces are fragmented and newly networked, the processes of archiving also changes the apparatus of written cultures.TRANS.ARCH is innovative in that it will create a network of experienced and young researchers that will examine current functions and uses of archives in the context of crises associated with globalization. While the transatlantic composition of the consortium of institutions involved in the project will allow for a comparative analysis of the European and Latin American contexts, the innovative focus on the uses of archives by migrants and sexual dissidents will demand that researchers create a new transdisciplinary approach with a strong gender perspective. This approach will open the way for insights into the transitional condition of archives, both in terms of their present political and cultural uses, and in terms of their changing theoretical status.

Original text from CORDIS.

Participants

UNIVERZITA PALACKEHO V OLOMOUCI · OlomoucCoordinatorCzechia
JOHANN WOLFGANG GOETHE-UNIVERSITAET FRANKFURT AM MAIN · Frankfurt Am MainGermany
PONTIFICIA UNIVERSIDAD CATOLICA DEL PERU · LimaPeru
PONTIFICIA UNIVERSIDAD JAVERIANA · BogotaColombia
UNIVERSIDAD DE SEVILLA · SevillaSpain
UNIVERSIDAD NACIONAL DE TRES DEFEBRERO · Buenos AiresArgentina
UNIVERSIDAD NACIONAL DEL LITORAL · Santa FeArgentina
UNIVERSITA DEGLI STUDI ROMA TRE · ROMAItaly
UNIVERSITAT DE VALENCIA · ValenciaSpain

TRANS.ARCH · Archives in Transition: Collective Memories and Subaltern Uses

Results in brief

Archives in Transition: Collective Memories and Subaltern Uses

Project objective

Participants

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