Towards a new archival science. Anthropologising the archive and the archival materials

Abstract

The article puts forward a proposal of new archival science – anthropologised archival science. The new archival science is discussed in the context of changes in the understanding of archives as the practice of collecting, storing and providing access to archival collections. The modern understanding of the archives has been grounded in the naturalistic approach to thinking about the world and people. The key factor shaping the naturalistic understanding of archives was the socio-cultural context, specifically the emergence of nation states and bureaucracy. In the 19th century, the archive, just like other elements of bureaucracy, came to be understood as free from context, discussion, ideology, or in a broader sense, culture. The 20th century has changed but little in such an approach to archival science. Only slight adjustments were made. The proposal for a new archival science goes beyond these adjustments. It is a shift towards its cultural understanding, on the grounds of anthropological understanding of culture.