Hannah Grout, Assistant Archivist, Archives and Special Collections Centre, University of the Arts London
We might consider an archive as a neutral space but the process is based on the archivists attitude and experience and therefore be influenced by cultural bias.
Cultural bias is the way in which we interpret and judge things based or against the standard of the individuals own culture
An archive can be seen as an investigation of piece/ part of time – a way to look at history, memory and identity, more importantly, see what influences it
Archive is a place where records of human experience, thoughts and activity are preserved, specifically things deemed as ‘worthy’ > this is considered through a specific lens > bias may be unconsciously communicated then the archive is used as a tool for knowledge exchange
Inequalities which exist in human societies are replicated and reflected within the institution that keeps them –
Grout highlights 2 areas of archival practice that we should critically question – absence and interpretation
Absence – gaps in the archive – certain groups of people are excluded from being documented
“The patriarchal structures that exist in society have resulted in the absence of women from archives. If they are present, women are often recorded only by their relation to ‘important men’ (Webster, 2001)… This absence applies to an even greater extent with the records of those who identify as transgender or gender non-binary.”
“In 2016, The National Archives (UK) recorded that London repositories accessioned new records at a ratio of 5:1 in favour of records relating to men over women (TNA, 2017, pp.23-24).” – this imbalance of records still persists
Archival practice began in the 19th century, by “professional historians” – exclusively white, male professionals who saw value and recorded the activity of other male dominated professionals// sectors
“In 2015 the Archives and Records Association recorded just 1% of their members as coming from a BAME background (ARA, 2015, p.2)”
“In working almost exclusively with the views and values of one group, ‘certain views and ideas about society will in turn be privileged and others marginalised’ (Schwartz and Cook, 2002, p.14).”
This raises the question of 1) narratives and histories being marginalised but also narrative and histories that are different from you own either be exoticised or misinterpreted without correct context and nuance.
Another core principle within archival practice is appraisal which requires the archivist to determine whether a record has value to their institution/ whether it should be apart of the collection
This is the first step where the archivists needs to be aware of their own biases as their interpretation of the meaning and value of the record will influence how/ whether or not that narrative is preserved
It can be said that every decision the archivist makes is a product of their learning, experiences and their environment – concepts such as truth and history are constructs created by their own lived experiences – making or deciding so is based on complex cultural biases
A common practice within institution such as archives and museums is to facilitate teaching through object based learning – which encourages learning through physically exploring the artefact
- When doing so, it is important for us to consider how the item came to be within that setting and who made that choice/ decision
Questions raised:
- Who decides what is important to preserve and what isn’t – how do we make those decisions ‘objectively’ or fairly, considering different narratives?
- There seems to be less value placed on verbal narratives of stories and wisdom compared to written text – spoken ways of passing down knowledge was or is looked down upon compared to written forms of communication but that is also because historically this medium or format was used by women
- Can we rely of archives to provide and accurate or concise representation of history based on the stories and narratives that have been excluded?