Round table : archives of the self

Moderator: Emmanuel Laurentin (France culture)

Presentations

• Isabelle Lacoue-Labarthe (Sciences Po Toulouse) -  Ego-histoire : when historians archive themselves
• Patrice Marcilloux (Université d'Angers) - Archives de soi, archives pour soi
• Hélène Dumas (CNRS, Institut d'histoire du temps présent) - "Mon histoire scelle la bouche à jamais": seeing the Tutsi genocide through the voices of child survivors
• Jean-François Laé (Université Paris 8 Vincennes Saint-Denis) - Personal archive and self-narrative: opposing forces?

Abstract

In an age of widespread digitization, when everyone is telling their own story via social networks, creating a gigantic archival database without really being aware of it, it seems necessary to rethink the meaning of a gesture that is always singular. Why does everyone feel the need to invent their own archive? Why do we need to write ourselves down and create an autobiography? The archive of the self is undoubtedly idiomatic, irreplaceable and unique. It can preserve an ever-fragile memory, bear witness or reconstruct a vanished past. Researchers from a wide range of disciplines will discuss the enigmatic meaning of the archive.