Archive, Memory and History: Intersections and Approaches

This article is a reflection on the relation between archives and history and memory. History aims at posing questions that contribute to understanding how memory operates in archives. These questions include the following: In what ways does the archive configure memory and history? How are power and symbolic relations configured in the archive? What changes are involved in an institutionalization process? In order to outline our position in light of these questions, we begin by offering several reflections on individual and collective memory. Next, from a philosophical perspective, we point out some aspects of the archive, relating these with question of origins and power in the archive's use for history. Then, from a sociological perspective, we demonstrate how the archive is institutionalized and appropriated by a collectivity, and, finally, provide an example that demonstrates the intersections and approaches presented in the previous items.