September 5, 2008

File Under Fleeting

By MARIANNA TORGOVNICK

Archives are more ephemeral than they seem

We are the archive, and we are perishable. The subject's fascination depends on that paradoxical conjunction.

Archives have always had an aura of neutrality and coolness that masks the heat behind the data they record: births, marriages, crimes, wars, business dealings, genocides, deaths — falling, like the snow in the James Joyce novella, "upon all the living and the dead." Long thought of as the musty haunts of scholars

Print Subscription

Digital Subscription

Already have an account? Log In Now.