The Archival Turn as Practice

Authors

  • Ann Cvetkovich

Abstract

This article reflects on the significance of the affective turn for work in cultural studies and queer studies, paying particular attention to the distinction between archival theory and archival practice. It focuses on queer archives and especially the creative methods of artists in the archives. It closes with a brief return to Derrida’s Archive Fever by way of acknowledging its influence.

Author Biography

Ann Cvetkovich

Ann Cvetkovich is Professor of Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies at the University of Texas at Austin and Professor Emeritus in the Feminist Institute of Social Transformation at Carleton University. She was previously Ellen Clayton Garwood Centennial Professor of English and founding Director of LGBTQ Studies at the University of Texas at Austin. She is the author of Mixed Feelings: Feminism, Mass Culture, and Victorian Sensationalism (New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers, 1992); An Archive of Feelings: Trauma, Sexuality, and Lesbian Public Cultures (Durham, NC: Duke, 2003); and Depression: A Public Feeling (Durham, NC: Duke, 2012), and she is currently completing a book called Feeling My Way Through the Archives: A Journey in Queer Method.

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Published

2025-12-17

How to Cite

Cvetkovich, Ann. 2025. “The Archival Turn As Practice”. Archivaria 100 (December):188-201. https://www.archivaria.ca/index.php/archivaria/article/view/14071.

Issue

Archivaria 100: Special Issue - Legacies of Critical Theory in Archives (Fall/Winter 2025)

Section

Looking Within

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