Some various points that people have raised in the discussion:
--When constructing a family or personal archive, or developing a narrative for that past, are we trespassing in some way? Is there an ethical dilemma embedded in a desire to uncover the past?
Nancy Miller and Leo Spitzer responded individually, noting that the problem is a real one, but that, for themselves, the extent to which the uncovered narrative impinges upon the living guides their work.
--What does the I-Hotel site look like today?
--How is language contributing to the creolization in Mauritius?
--What stories do we choose when we decide to narrate a life? Doesn't everyone have a story to be told? What criteria inform the choice to narrate this life?
Robert Warrior noted, in response, that there is an autobiographical element to the archivist's work: to some extent, we assemble the archives that provokes us to narrate it. Marianne Hirsch followed-up by reminding us that life writing/archive projects are proliferating. I would imagine that digital technologies will only increase those archival options in exciting ways. Here's one available to MLA Conventioneers.
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