The Study of Archives

Paper Summary:

This paper is a critical review of three articles regarding the application of postmodern theory to the study of archives and archival work. The articles analyzed are Cook's "Fashionable Nonsense or Professional Rebirth: Postmodernism and the Practice of Archives", Greene's "The Power of Meaning: The Archival Mission in the Postmodern Age" and Nesmith's "Seeing Archives: Postmodernism and the Changing Intellectual Place of Archives."

From the Paper:

"Critical Review: Cook's "Fashionable Nonsense or Professional Rebirth," Nesmith's "Seeing Archives," and Greene's "The Power of Meaning" Within academia, to say nothing of the larger public sphere, there is a controversy at play over how postmodernism should be characterized and conceptualized. For some, postmodernism does not exist. In those minds, postmodernism is a nonsensical academic label that does not mean anything in a substantial way. Many see postmodernism as nothing more than academic doublespeak. Others feel that postmodernism is a mislabeled derivation of other historical movements, such as modernism. These critics argue that instead of considering postmodernism to be a category unto itself, we should think of it simply as the extension of existing historical and cultural trends. However, some--and they tend to be a vocal, if disenchanted group--argue that postmodernism is a very real moment in history, one that can be best understood by its extreme superficiality."

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