Message text written by list for CILIP members working towards MCLIP status
>Re: Iraq National Library and Archive
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>destruction of the Iraq National Library and Archive...truly merits the
description of "genocide">
Does this mean the Irish republican destruction of the Dublin Public Record
office was suicide? It is difficult and painful for us to face the truth
that not all cultures and communities within them have such an automatic
reverence to their officially designated 'heritage' or "collective memory".
For instance: a culture where expertise, wisdom and history are
transmitted orally will find the human losses more damaging than that of
state buildings. Religious and political fundamentalists of every flavour
are, at best, unconcerned about obliterating history and culture previous
to their institutions. I'm not saying that either of these examples are
illustrations of this particular case, or that I don't find such incidents
heartbreaking, but we should take into account that heritage is not neutral
or automatically worth defending to many groups of people. It is precisely
because it is used to represent and control people, that it becomes a
target.
We cannot know what we lost in Alexandria or in other such destructive acts
through up to the present century. But human knowledge has survived due to
our capacity to re-invent and create. It is only we librarians, archivists
etc. that lose our livelihoods and status - depressing - certainly - but I
feel we shouldn't confuse this with actual genocide.
Regards,
Andrea Chandler
Librarian
INSTITUTE OF PSYCHOANALYSIS
Byron House, 112A Shirland Road
London W9 2EQ
Tel: 020 7563 5008
Fax: 020 7563 5001
http://www.psychoanalysis.org.uk/library.htm
Library Opening Hours: 12:00pm-9:00pm Mon-Thur
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