Title (english) Archive as a Depository of Shared Memories, History and Identity
Title (croatian) Arhiv kao mjesto čuvanja zajedničkih sjećanja, povijesti i identiteta
Author Viktorija Kudra Beroš
Author's institution Institute for Migration and Ethnic Studies
Scientific / art field, discipline and subdiscipline HUMANISTIC SCIENCES Ethnology and Anthropology
Scientific / art field, discipline and subdiscipline HUMANISTIC SCIENCES Interdisciplinary Humanistic Studies
Abstract (english) Given their role in the preservation and protection of an authentic and credible trace of the past (documents) and, consequently, national identity, archives are considered places of choice for interpreting and representing shared memory and the past. Emphasising authenticity and credibility frames archives as seemingly neutral institutions in terms of politics and ideology. However, the trace that provides an insight into the “truth and knowledge” of our (individual and collective) past “that makes us what we are” needs to be questioned. Since the archiving procedure is based on the processes of inclusion and exclusion in all segments of everyday interpretation of material, the archive is a political and ideological institution that takes its place in the order of political power. This paper discusses the role of the archive as a place of preservation of “shared past and history” as an important part of national identity through the prism of institutional apparatuses or forms of knowledge/power (example of architecture) and technologies or manners of articulating and practising knowledge/power (example of everyday practice). The paper points to the role of archives in the (re)interpretation and (re)vision of shared memories, collective history and national identity on the examples of the Croatian State Archives and Archives of Yugoslavia, in the context of changes in the symbolic and political order (SFRY/Croatia). By constructing national memory and narratives of nationality through narratives of history and memory, and by constructing “truth” (knowledge) through exclusion and inclusion, archives (just like museums and libraries) have a role to play in “imagining” the community–nation. Or, according to the theory of performative identity (Foritier 2000), everyday practice that takes place in archives is an institutional identity practice that contributes to the unification and homogenisation of the community through a policy of interpretation by performing and producing (performative) memory (collective identity formation).
Abstract (croatian) Pozivajući se na čuvanje i zaštitu autentičnog i vjerodostojnog traga prošlosti (dokumenata) pa time i nacionalnog identiteta, arhivi se prikazuju kao mjesta »izabranosti « za interpretiranje i reprezentiranje zajedničkog sjećanja i prošlosti. Pozivanje na autentičnost i vjerodostojnost čini arhive naizgled politički i ideološki neutralnim institucijama. No, taj trag koji nam daje na uvid »istinu i znanje« vlastite (i individualne i kolektivne) prošlosti »koji nas čini onime što jesmo« zahtjeva propitivanje. S obzirom da proces arhiviranja počiva na procesima uključivanja i isključivanja u svim segmentima svakodnevne prakse te interpretacije građe/gradiva arhiv se ukazuje kao politička i ideološka institucija koja zauzima svoje mjesto u poretku političke moći. U ovom radu razmatra se uloga arhiva kao mjesta čuvanja »zajedničke prošlosti i povijesti« kao važne sastavnice nacionalnog identiteta kroz prizmu institucionalnih aparata odnosno formi znanja/moći (primjer arhitekture) i tehnologija odnosno načina artikuliranja i prakticiranja znanja/moći (primjer svakodnevne prakse). Rad ukazuje na ulogu i poziciju arhiva u (re)interpretaciji i (re)viziji zajedničkih sjećanja, kolektivne povijesti kao i nacionalnog identiteta na primjerima Hrvatskog državnog arhiva i Arhiva Jugoslavije, a u kontekstu promjene simboličkog i političkog poretka (SFRJ / Hrvatska). Konstruirajući nacionalno sjećanje i narative nacionalnosti kroz narative povijesti i sjećanja, isključivanjem i uključivanjem konstruirajući »istinu« (znanje), arhivi (kao i muzeji i knjižnice) imaju svoju ulogu u »zamišljanu« zajednice – nacije ili u skladu s performativnom teorijom identiteta (Foritier, 2000) svakodnevna praksa koja se u arhivima odvija institucijska je identitetska praksa koja izvodeći i proizvodeći (performativnost) sjećanje (kolektivna identitetska formacija) sudjeluje u unificiranju i homogeniziranju zajednice putem politike interpretacije.
Keywords (english)
archive
memory
national identity
Croatian State Archives
Archives of Yugoslavia
Keywords (croatian)
arhiv
sjećanje
nacionalni identitet
Hrvatski državni arhiv
Arhiv Jugoslavije
Language english
Publication type Scientific paper - Original scientific paper
Publication status Published
Peer review Peer review - international
Publication version Published version
Journal title Migracijske i etničke teme
Numbering vol. 36, no. 2-3, pp. 173-196
p-ISSN 1333-2546
e-ISSN 1848-9184
DOI https://doi.org/10.11567/met.36.2.3
URN:NBN urn:nbn:hr:303:087993
Publication 2020
Document URL https://hrcak.srce.hr/253841
Type of resource Text
Access conditions Open access
Terms of use
Created on 2024-09-12 10:50:27