Digital Materiality and Archival Discursivity: A Unified Approach to Archival Processes

Abstract

The author problematizes traditional archival theory and seeks to analyze and reconceptualize key phenomena and tools within the archival domain using postmodern and new materialist theories. The article reconciles postmodern and new materialist approaches in the archival domain and builds on their shared features, despite differences noted in some of the literature. The introduction references key original thinkers as well as archivists who applied these theories to archival science. This is followed by a presentation of the method used in the article. The material and social aspects of the archival domain are explained, and the analysis of archival phenomena and processes is conducted. This unified approach aligns the epistemic, ontological, and ethical aspects of archival work by integrating the analyzed archival phenomena into more complex archival processes. The author considers these processes, in a new materialist manner, as tools that shape archival phenomena. These processes are understood as both material and discursive practices, with archivists serving as both performative and interpretative agents. The processes work with (or against) the materiality of archival materials to form archival fonds or collections. The author discusses the most interesting results and offers a conclusion about the approach that combines postmodernism and new materialism.