Documenting Non-Visits to Archives

Abstract

This research article stems from methodological questions related to my doctoral study, based heavily on textual sources. It documents my non-visits to archives, or each instance wherein I make use of rare, primary documents that are either already housed or ought to be preserved in archival spaces, without actually visiting one. The idea is to understand what necessitated or facilitated these non-visits to conventional archival spaces, each of which leads one to the alternate places from where these texts have been accessed. The article highlights the human processes associated with arranging and accessing archival spaces, the silences therein, and also discusses the role of digital archives in facilitating my non-visits. It thus explores the ever-expanding notions of the archive and its departure from the conventional physical structure housing State records to newer imaginations of repositories of pasts preserved in texts.