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Piotr Bewicz - Postmodern discourse on identity of an
archivist in "The American Archivist"
This article is an attempt to present one of the most leading discourses in archival
literature of the last two decades, which is archivist's identity and his place within
the culture. In his research author focused mainly on articles published in academic
journal published by the Society of American Archivists - The American Archivist.
However to explain the phenomenon of this discourse in proper depth author extended
his research to the writings of sociology, historiography and anthropology available
in French and English literature. Crisis of archivist's identity, presented in this
article, corresponds with the prevailing trend of the time - postmodernism - also seen
by American archivists as the main reason for the marginalization of the role of "servant
of the altar of history". Authors of quoted articles not only do not remain indifferent
to this negative process, but they offer solutions which could lead to creation of new
and improved image of an archivist in postmodern, democratic and information society.
Discussed, in this article, are issues regarding public relations, openness and access
to archives, their marketing, as well as education functions. Furthermore, article
provides insight into the specific way of writing about archive studies on the other
continent, that is with greater attention to lightness and wit of style, which keeps
the maximum pragmatism. Article ends with a series of questions which author poses to
the changing status of archive and archivist. These questions, although will remain
unanswered, expose the seemingly dynamic change.
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