Session 10. Postmodernism in the Performing Arts Archive

Abstract

As Jacques Derrida observed in Archive Fever, the decision to preserve something and incorporate it into cultural memory is an act of power. Although traditional archival practice privileges institutional records kept in original order, post-modern critiques like Derrida’s have caused scholars and archivists to formulate creative approaches to description, discovery, and access. Such techniques have particular implications for the performing arts archive. Through case studies and life experiences, each of the scholar-archivists on this panel will explore post-modern approaches within the archival environment.