The Affective Archive
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In An Archive of Feelings, Ann Cvetkovich describes such an "archive of feelings" as
an exploration of cultural texts as repositories of feelings and emotions, which are encoded not only in the content of the texts themselves but in the practices that surround their production and reception.
This unit explores the archive through its affective layers of meaning-making and knowledge production. How are feeling, sense, and emotion archived? How does the affective get displayed not only through the archive's content, but also in the ways the archives are made, produced, and shared? What intersections can we find with Diana Taylor's notion of "the archive and the repertoire"?
We will think about the importance of the affective as something that usually gets left out of traditional notions of the archive, and explore the use of soundscapes, images, narrative, etc. in achieving a rich, multimedia, and multi-sensory form of knowledge production in the archive.
Readings/Viewings
Ann Cvetkovich with Allyson Mitchell, "A Girl's Journey Into the Well of Forbidden Knowledge"
- Discussion page: Ann Cvetkovich with Allyson Mitchell
The Lesbian Herstory Archives: http://www.lesbianherstoryarchives.org/
Golan Levin, Kamal Nigam, Jonathan Feinberg, The Dumpster
- Discussion page: The Dumpster: A Visualization
Recommended: Erik Loyer, The Knotted Line, Strange Rain, Public Secrets
- Discussion page: The Knotted Line
