Course talk:ARST573/Archives and Genocide

Hi Marisa,

Your page is developing well and I look forward to reading it all later. I think you have done a great job covering the topic. I really like your choice of photographs, I recognize how it may have been difficult to find images that illustrated the text well but were not difficult to view.

In my most recent read of your page I just found a small thing you could change in one of your hyperlinks. In the section "Genocide" the link to the "crime of aggression" would read better if the word "the" was not included in the link.

Great job so far!

All the best, -H

Thanks Hannah! It has been changed.

Hi Marisa,

I've taken another close look at what you have up so far, and have a couple last suggestions for your section Memory and Testimony. Take them or leave them, of course, as you do your last bits of writing and tweaking.

• Your use of the word analog is a bit confusing. You say analog records "could be considered witnesses themselves," and then that analog records function in conjunction with witness testimonies. What exactly do you mean by analog records? Is there a more concrete term you could replace 'analog record' with? Or list a few examples after your first sentence in this section? The rest of the section is great, it's just the introductory sentences that throw me off.
• On that same note, I totally understand what you're trying to get at in your sentence “As places and programs, archives contain the memories and experiences of genocide survivors in addition to evidence of genocide" is rather vague. And "Contain the memories" is very conceptual. Is there a way of tweaking word choice and maybe elaborating on this idea more to make it more straightforward and concrete? It's a crucial idea to include in this section and I think with a couple of examples and concrete language it will easily develop into something clearer.
• I'd recommend a citation regarding oral histories are being conceived of as active witnesses as it is particular to the field of memory studies. James Edward Young, “Holocaust Video and Cinemagraphic Testimony” in Writing and Rewriting the Holocaust: Narrative Consequences of Interpretation (1988) or Dori Laub, “Bearing Witness of the Vicissitudes of Listening,” in Testimony: Crisis of Witnessing in Literature, Psychoanalysis, and History eds. Shoshana Felman and Dori Laub (1992) could be useful.

Also,

• You probably working on this, but extra linking. Including the biggies: Holocaust, Armenian Genocide, Rwandan Genocide
• Not a suggestion but a comment: I liked seeing the addition of pictures and especially video! They really support your written content. If you have time and are able to find ones you can use, a few more would be a nice final touch.
• I'd recommend quickly stating who the Dictionary of Genocide is written by (as in "listed in the Dictionary of Genocide, written/published/what have you by …". This is kind of a funny thing, an indexing of sensitive and potentially contentious events. I think it would be beneficial to have who authored it in the body of the Wiki rather than just in the reference.

This page going to be really great. I'm genuinely looking forward to reading your sections under construction!

Hi Amy,

Thanks for the feedback! I really appreciate it.

• I was having issues with those first two sentences. I know what I want to convey in my head but getting down into something that makes sense has been a bit of a struggle! That bit is still a work in progress, like the rest of my page.
• I'll work on that and include some examples.
• Thanks for the extra sources!

For the second section:

• Do you mean I've linked them too much or not enough? I've tried to link to relevant pages when each event is mentioned for the first time. I didn't want to over do it but maybe it is necessary to link every mention for the biggies.
• Thanks! There is a lot of content out there but a lot of it is gruesome (eg. archival images of dead bodies). I tried to stay away from images that could be potentially upsetting but I have some from ICC tribunals/trials that I will be adding.
• Definitely - its on my "to do" list.

Thanks again :)

Those two sentences are tricky. The good ideas are always the most difficult to capture just right. I know exactly what you're trying to get at though.

What about if you start that whole section with "Many archives of genocide…" (all the way to the video) and move the idea you're trying to capture in the first two sentences down. Make them the conclusion to the section. Maybe by leading with the concrete stuff it will help set you up to write out a revised version of broader concept you're illustrating in those two sentences. Does that make sense? It's an idea. See if you think it helps?

Thanks for the help! I cleaned up the section a bit. Those sentences have been fleshed out, with parts moved to other sections, but the remaining part is still at the top of the section. It could be moved though. If you have time, let me know what you think - No worries if not!

That reads as a lot more concrete to me at least.

Great, thanks!

Hey Marisa,

Your work so far is very good and I look forward to reading the whole thing. You may talk about this in your planned content but I'd be interested to know more about how the archival profession relates to the topic. Genocide is a hard topic to address and I wonder if there are tensions between victims, perpetrators and archivists about the records.

Kelly

Hi Kelly,

Thanks! I haven't come across anything about tensions between archivists and victims but I do have sources talking about archivists aiding in facilitating healing and reconciliation. Some tensions have arisen from the treatment of records after tribunals though, which I'll include.

Great job Marissa!

This is a wonderfully written and thought-provoking page. I only have one suggestion, in your introductory paragraph changing enact to enacted. Otherwise, great job!

Hi Cathryn,

Thank you! I reread the sentence and I think I'm going to keep it as 'enact' because I think it fits in the context ("...tool through which perpetrators enact violence…") - changing it would mean that I'd have to change the tense of the entire sentence, I think? Please correct me (again) if I'm wrong/you disagree!

Thanks again :)

I re-read your sentence, I think it sounds fine. I think I had a bit of a brain fart when I first read it.

Hi Marisa,

Your page is coming along great. I especially like the detail you went into in defining genocide.

I just wondered if you wanted to make your pictures larger. They are quite small and don't balance out the text very well. I made my pictures 150px or 200px depending on their orientation. I cannot copy and paste the sample code or else Wiki will format it into a picture but you can copy my code or use this website: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Extended_image_syntax

Good luck!

Sarah

Hi Sarah, thank you! I was just wondering how to make my images larger! I will fix them tomorrow.

Hey, Marissa!

The outline you have looks really good! I'm sure the content will be awesome.

The one thing I will say is to add to your Introduction, just to make it more comprehensive regarding what you'll be covering. Also, I don't know that you need a conclusion, at least not for a wiki.

Good luck!

Hi Rosie,

Thanks for the suggestions! I do have more to add to the introduction but I usually finish that last. I was wondering about a conclusion myself. It was included out of habit but I think you're right.

The conclusion was one of the things i notices as well! If you want to sum things up I would suggest putting a basic summary in the intro because at least for wikis i don't believe they have conclusions. If you feel as though you need to sum up ideas at the end I would suggest calling it something else such as Impact or something along those lines. conclusion sounds more like a paper instead of a wiki.

Thanks for the suggestions! I added a sentence to the intro and removed the conclusion - it looks much better.

Hey, Marissa! I know you have a lot of sections you are still working on ( as do I), but I was wondering if there is any sort of Legislation (not even sure that is the right word) maybe control would be a better word in place through world wide organizations that works with this topic? there very well might not be but I was just curious. If there is it might be worth mentioning

Hi Morgan,

Thanks for the suggestion! The only legislation related to archives I've found is in regards to evidence used in the International Criminal Court - I will definitely be including some of that info in that section. If I find any other, I'll include it!

Your outline looks great so far, Marisa! Obviously there's more content your going to add, but seeing as you have case studies on the ICTR and ICTY records, are you going to talk about the ICC archives as an institution at all (I'm having trouble finding anything on their website at the moment - but I'm pretty sure they have a central archives)? I don't really know anything about it, but I was wondering if there were any ongoing issues about who/ where records from the trials get kept etc. I look forward to reading your finished page!

Hi Christie,

I don't know if I'll talk about the ICC archives specifically but I will go into the treatment of records after trials - eg. there was an issue after the Yugoslavian trial where records of deceased persons were destroyed and not offered to their relatives before destruction.

Hi again fellow pod member,

I am especially looking forward to reading the section "Destruction and (Re)construction of Archives" as well as the case studies you have outlined.

A few suggestions:

I think hyperlinking "Raphael Lemkin" to the Wikipedia page on him would be helpful for the reader. Also in that same sentence if that will be the first time you reference the Holocaust, you should hyperlink it as well.

When you refer to a writer in your text, such as Dawne Adam in the "Khmer Rouge" section, it is helpful for the general reader if you qualify their name, i.e. "archivist Dawne Adam."

You might want to move the sentence "The above lists are not comprehensive..." from the end of the lists of genocidal events to above the lists before the sentence "The following list includes..." (and obviously change "above" to "following"). This way the reader is informed immediately that the lists are partial, and the sentence does not float down at the bottom of the section.

All the best.

Hi again,

Thanks for the suggestions! All of them are great - I will update my page tomorrow.

Hi Marisa, Great job so far. I really like how you've created the "related wiki pages" heading and I would suggest adding a link to the "Archives and Power" wiki since you have an 'Archives and Power' subheading in the "Perpetrator-Created Archives" section. Another thing I noticed is that both section 4 and 5 have case studies in them. Maybe you could create a separate section titled Case Studies? Also, you may have not gotten to this yet but I would consider adding content to your overview and expanding upon it. I look forward to see how you wiki develops. So far the organization/structure looks good!

Hi Kaitlin,

Thanks for the suggestions! I will definitely add a link to "Archives and Power." I haven't decided if I want the case studies separate or not but I'll keep it in mind. My overview does need more work - hopefully I'll have that up tomorrow.

Hi Marisa,

Hopefully this is relevant to your topic, but while reading over your page I kept going back to the idea of record forgeries made during genocides. Specifically the forgery of records of artwork ownership during the Holocaust, which I read about somewhere but am not entirely sure about the authenticity of this information...Maybe just take a look at the authenticity of records created during then? I think this follows well with your topic about perpetrators using archives to "enact violence against genocide victims." Other than that it looks like you're off to a great start! Can't wait to see the finished page.

Hi Morgan,

It would be interesting to look more into archives created by perpetrators and the issue of authenticity. I know one of my sources talks about issues around truth and the reliability of perpetrator-created archives as evidence (Dawne Adam, The Tuol Sleng Archives and the Cambodian Genocide) so I'll be sure to include that in my page.

Thanks for the feedback!

Hi Marisa,

I would agree with what a few people have pointed out and perhaps move the links to genocidal events to later in the page. While a background on the history of genocide and some of the issues surrounding it are very important, it looks like it could be easy provide more than is necessary about the social/historical impact of genocide when your focus is on archives and genocide. Admittedly a tricky balance between enough context and writing a wiki-page about genocide!

Hi Adena,

It is definitely a tricky balance! I've decided to remove the "Genocide in the 20th Century" section and only include a more general overview of genocide (stages, definitions etc) so I can focus more on the archival side of my page.

Thanks for the feedback!

Hi Marisa,

This topic looks really interesting and I am looking forward to reading the section on the destruction of archives and records in genocide. That seems to be a common theme in history that conquering peoples destroy archives. One could say that this destruction is a form of genocide as all or almost all records/evidence of a population are erased. Will you discuss this view point in your wiki?

Looking forward to reading more.

Hi Sarah,

Good insight - I will definitely discuss records destruction as genocide (or at least part of genocide) in the "Destruction and (Re)construction of Archives" section. There are a few examples, which I'll elaborate on in the wiki, but related to that thought - the Oneg Shabbat archives was an effort to document life in the Warsaw ghetto since the residents of the ghetto thought that all evidence of their existence would be destroyed. If I can find more examples of this kind of archival activity I might include a section on 'archives as resistance'.

Thanks for the feedback.

Hi Marisa, You've chosen such an ambitious topic and it seems like you're well-prepared to tackle it. Your organization looks good to me, and I think looking at who created the archive in question and how it's been used will be really interesting. I agree with Amy that the dichotomy between perpetrator and survivor can be hard to navigate, but considering your experience and background with this topic, I think you'll be able to handle it sensitively.

Would your list of links to information about genocidal events fit better towards the end of the wiki? Since they're mostly external links at this point, they seem like they'd make up a really excellent Further Reading section down at the bottom, but if you're planning on referring to them in the section you've got them nested in then staying where they currently are makes sense. I can't wait to see how your page develops!

Best, Allison

Hi Allison, thanks for the feedback. Sorry for the late reply.

It is a bit ambitious - hopefully I haven't bitten off more than I can chew. As I mentioned in my reply to Amy, I'm still working on navigating the perpetrator/victim dichotomy. To find a suitable solution, I've been doing some more reading from genocide-specific sources and I am also open to suggestions.

I think you are right about the links fitting better at the end of the wiki. I included them at the beginning because I'll be discussing some of them later in the article but I'll probably do a brief overview of the event in the section in which I am referring to it. The list won't feature so prominently and it will be clearer that way.

Thanks for the suggestion and the feedback!

Hi Marisa,

It looks like you have a great outline for your topic. Your headings indicate that it is going to be very interesting and informative. I look forward to reading more as your page develops.

Hannah

Hi Hannah, thanks for the feedback. I plan on having more posted soon so you'll have more to read and comment on!

Kudos for taking on a massive and very sensitive subject. From your table of contents and what you have posted so far, you're really trying to touch on every facet of archives and genocide both directly (via case studies) and indirectly (discussing definitions of 'genocide' and different events worldwide) related to archives, and by discussing records specifically and repositories. This will give your final page real depth and positions your page as being an entry point for information on genocide through the topic of archives/records which is an interesting angle.

Two points I wanted to make: - In your first section, I hope to see a little more detail regarding the complexity of defining genocide. Defining an event as 'genocide' is very subject to interpretation (and is therefore itself a powerful tool) and not just contentious in the case of post-colonial states. In your section of lists and definitions be sure to address who is doing the "recognizing" and labelling of an event as genocide. These may very well already be on your 'to-do' list. - Be careful about creating a perpetrator/victim dichotomy. It sure is helpful when trying to break a subject down into categories for the purposes of something like a Wiki page but you risk entering tricky territory. I think this is easily resolved by being aware of your word choice as you keep writing, being thorough and transparent with your referencing, and providing sufficient elaboration for contentious and sensitive areas of your subject.

Looking forward to reading more!

Hi Amy, thanks for the feedback. I apologize for the late reply!

This is a sensitive, complex topic and I definitely hope to do it justice. In the first section, I plan on going into the different definitions of genocide (starting with Lemkin) and looking at the changes to the definition and why certain actions were excluded from the definition. It is subject to interpretation, and those interpretations change over time and from scholar to scholar. One of the case studies I'm using is about the Bosnian genocide, where only the Srebrenica massacre was ruled a genocide by the ICTY. In terms of the list, I will make it more clear that the events included are considered genocides by the authors of the Dictionary.

The perpetrator/victim dichotomy is something I'm aware of and still trying to navigate. I use 'survivor' in some situations but have yet to find a suitable term that does not re-victimize those impacted by genocide. I have a little more reading to do so I'm sure I'll come across something.

Thanks again for the thoughtful and constructive feedback!