(Re-)Writing History – Decolonizing the Archive
„Archiving is a kind of interment, laying something in a coffin, if not to rest, then at least to consign elements of that life which could not be destroyed purely and simply. These elements, removed from time and from life, are assigned to a place and a sepulchre that is perfectly recognisable because it is consecrated: the archives. Assigning them to this place makes it possible to establish an unquestionable authoriry over them and to tame the violence and cruelty of which the 'remains' are capable, especially when these are abandoned to their own devices.“
Achille Mbembe: The power of the archive, In: Refiguring the archive, Cape Town, 2002, p. 22.
In "The Power of the Archive," Achille Mbembe calls both the archival building and the documents contained within it a graveyard where ideas and former parts of unruly realities can be laid to rest. Thinking from his decolonial perspective, the archive becomes an instrument of hegemonic power, one that conserves its relics while simultaneously constraining them, nevertheless leaving us with the archive as an imaginary space to rediscover and reappropriate.
In this seminar, we’re therefore going to work on a decolonial perspective on archives with a main focus on reading theoretical texts about decolonial approaches towards different forms of archives, e.g., musical repertoires, online archives, colonial and historical documents, psychoanalytical discourses (Achille Mbembe, Nicole Anderson, Maryanne Dever, Avery F. Gordon), and discussing artistic examples of rewriting archives, as well as exploring different autoethnographic approaches towards archival work (e.g., Christina Sharpe, Trondt Rheinholdsen, Joana Tischkau, Danielle Brathwaite Shirley, Emma Goldman, Mark Fisher).
Accesibility:
The Seminar will be held in English, there can be a partial translation into German as we go.
The Seminar will take place in the Building of Willy-Brandt-Straße 8, third floor, there is no elevator.
Dates:
Preparation meeting: 30.10. 16:00-17:30 Willy-Brandt-Straße 8
06.11. 16:00-18:00 reading session Text 1
20.11. 16:00-18:00 reading session Text 2
11.12. 16:00-18:00 reading session Text 3
18.12. 16:00-18:00 reading session + 18:00-20:00 Vortrag Text 4
2 Blocks, December + January, times tbd
19.12. 14:00 - 18:00 presentation + discussion of examples (with breaks)
20.12. 10:00 – 16:00 presentation + discussion of examples (with breaks)
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22.01. 16:00 – 18:00 readings session Text 5
23.01. 14:00 – 18:00 presentation + discussion of examples (with breaks)
24.01. 10:00 – 16:00 presentation + discussion of examples (with breaks)
- Kursleitung: Maria Huber