Engaging with Records and Archives: Histories and Theories

Abstract

archives are effectively lost by being described in France as Chinese manuscripts (Cox, chapter 12, p. 209); interpretation of Indonesian records made difficult by unclear descriptions (Karabinos, chapter 4, p. 61); records seized and stored in warehouses lost until claims for storage costs alerted those currently responsible to their existence; or deliberate obfuscation of existence and location as with the Mau Mau records at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in the UK (Banton, chapter 3). The book acts as a testimony to the long-term efforts of many within the international community – particularly those associated with earlier times in the International Council on Archives. Here the work of Kecskemeti (chapter 1) and Auer (chapter 8) are exemplars, and their work is an important part of archival history. Fascinating to me was the long duration of some of the disputes. Archival plunder by Napoleon in an attempt to create an archive of empire was only returned to Spain as late as 1976 and some of the seized Vatican records from the period are still in the Archives Nationales of France because ‘the Vatican authorities are not prepared to cover the expenses for their transport back to Rome’ (Auer, chapter 8, p. 117). In some essays personal feelings are palpable. Frustration in the case of Kecskemeti, something of disillusion in the cases of African archives in Europe as discussed by Mnjama and Lowry (chapter 7), and significant personal hardship documented in passing by Patricia Grimsted – ‘the well known “archival” spy’ (Grimsted, chapter 9, p. 133). Beyond the discussions of physical possession, the essay by Gilliland (chapter 11) takes the reader to new territory. Can we reconceptualise the ‘realities of always-in-motion diasporas of records in which multiple parties have rights, interests and diverging points of view’ (Gilliland, chapter 11, p. 180)? This essay challenges archival practice to move beyond the notions of physical, into virtual territory, and to think in post-national terms. It invites reconceptualisation of the nature of ‘displaced records’ in line with emerging archival thinking about multiple, simultaneous provenance and notions of co-creation as well as issues of human rights and social justice. The essays in this volume interact with each other, cross-referencing authors. The challenge of reconceptualising the problems have been taken up by Cox in particular, positing an archival equivalent to non-refoulment, emphasising common and joint heritage, stressing access to records, and challenging archival and legal thinking to move beyond the notion of the original in a digital world. The evidence of author interaction shows their high degree of involvement in the work, and the amassed expertise of authors is impressive. Each chapter contains a bibliography which leads interested readers to a wealth of further information on the topics and cases under discussion. An index assists access to specific topics. James Lowry is to be mightily congratulated on this book. It is thought-provoking, interesting, enlightening and challenging.