Strive to Archive

Everywhere that we look, there is evidence of archives at play. Whether it be on campus, where we saw the documentation and representation of the past as well as iconic moments in history, we also see the use of archives in much of the literature that we read. Archives are important because they tell us about a history of a culture, or an individual, and provide insight into stories and events that happened, or things that took place over a span of time. That is why, for example, Alice’s body in Zulus can be viewed and perceived as an archive. Her body is used to mark an important event in the lives of the rebels’ history, where she was the only fertile woman thought to exist and so her body was viewed as sacred and therefore worshipped. Many of the rebels go and visit her body as it is a way to recall and bring back memories of a past historic event. We can also see the importance of archives in Interdisciplinary, as we see how Michael Foucault used archives to develop his work further and intertextually places his work in multiple areas of subject matter. We can therefore see how archives sometimes exist interdisciplinary within other pieces of work, where authors draw attention to these archives to bring back or emphasize the point or the symbolism behind and idea or concept. The cemetery in Zulus, for example, is used as a way of encapsulating and storing information, but also acts as a source of symbolism and can exist interdisciplinary in other works, or life situations. In summary, archives provide an important glimpse into the past, and can unlock a different understanding or perspective than we had originally thought.