Lowry, J
(2019)
Radical empathy, the imaginary and affect in (post)colonial records: how to break out of international stalemates on displaced archives.
Archival Science, 19 (2).
pp. 185-203.
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Abstract
© 2019, The Author(s). As the European powers appeared to withdraw from their colonies, they often took with them records that were subsequently claimed by the governments of the newly independent countries. These records are post-colonial examples of displaced archives. In recent history, the problem of displaced archives has been approached as a legal problem, and this has produced relatively few resolutions to archival claims. This article approaches displaced archives from a new perspective, applying theories and concepts recently introduced into archival theory by Michelle Caswell, Anne Gilliland and Marika Cifor: affect, imagined records and impossible archival imaginaries, and radical empathy. This article will show that these concepts, which have been deployed to decolonise diverse aspects of archival work, could also help resolve a persistent international problem, which is both technical and geopolitical/diplomatic. This article will argue that archival theory, as recently influenced by Caswell, Gilliland and Cifor, demands a significantly changed approach to archival displacement, even as it sometimes arrives at established positions on repatriation and access. This change involves opening up dialogues about displaced archives to considerations beyond the juridical or geopolitical, to form richer understandings of archival displacement and its effects on individuals and communities. The article challenges individual archivists to apply the concepts of affect, imagined records and impossible archival imaginaries, and radical empathy in their work with colonial records as a component of decolonial archival praxis, and finally proposes a critical theorisation of displaced archives.
| Item Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | Displaced archives, Migrated Archive, Affect, Imaginary, Radical empathy |
| Depositing User: | Symplectic Admin |
| Date Deposited: | 04 Jun 2019 07:55 |
| Last Modified: | 19 Jan 2023 00:41 |
| DOI: | 10.1007/s10502-019-09305-z |
| Related URLs: | |
| URI: | https://livrepository.liverpool.ac.uk/id/eprint/3044020 |
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