The Archive as Experience: Mediations, Practices, and Disputes in the Production of Historical Knowledge

Abstract

The relationship between the historical discipline and archives has been widely discussed in texts on the theory of history. Today, there is hardly a History curriculum that does not include at least one class devoted to reflecting on our relationship with archives and the ways in which they are approached. Additionally, it is highly likely that, alongside the academic publications of historians on particular phenomena of the past, there exists an abundance of notes—some published and others unpublished—regarding the problems and potentialities of the archives relevant to their own research. In other words, the relationship between producing historical knowledge and reflecting on, practicing, and questioning archives constitutes a constant within the discipline, without this necessarily implying that the discussion has been exhausted or resolved. In this sense, this dossier was motivated by the conviction that continuing to engage in conversations about archives, their relationship with the historical discipline, their potentialities, and their problems remains relevant.