Arkiv är ju till för att användas! :En studie av arkivpedagogik med fokus på materialitet, översättning och förmedling

Sammanfattning

This thesis is about materiality in archival pedagogy. More specifically, it is about how the archival educator composes educational material from the sources stored in the archives. The study focuses on the different ways and methods used by archival educators to translate the sources, making them comprehensible and interesting to a wider audience. The empirical data has been gathered using three individual interviews with archival educators, within both municipal and organizational archives in the south of Sweden. The thesis also includes a closer look at the archive’s educational material, with the sole purpose of emphasizing the use of different kinds of materials and sources, as well as to draw attention to the creativity required to create and convey educational materials. To understand how the practice of translation is carried out, the thesis highlights the social relations within the process. By using theoretical concepts such as translation, social and actor-network from Actor-network theory and the philosopher John Dewey’s theories on education and pedagogy, the thesis shows the development of educational material, highlighting how different materials collaborate and how human actors contribute, thus elevating archival sources into a comprehensive presentation of historical, social, or cultural material. Furthermore, the thesis shows that the selection process of archival sources for educational material is often based on personal preferences. This, however, does not exclude the source as an important actor since the end result depends on what has been deposited in the archives. In conclusion, this thesis demonstrates that elements such as collaboration between archival institutions, an integral understanding of the materials in the archival deposits, as well as upholding good communication with the user, are all important factors in creating and mediating educational material.