Olga Zaslavskaya

The twentieth century brought into question the very idea of historical fact, and also a reconsideration of the function and role of archives. An archive, regardless of when it was formed, is not just the bearer of documentation, but also a reflection of the needs of its creators, and the purposes for its creation need to be considered within a broader socio-political and cultural context. This project will contextualize the ‘turn to memory’ within the larger theoretical debate over the notion of historical representation and also examine the institutional location of the archive as ‘memorial site’ as well as ‘historical artifact’.