Audio-Visual Migration Correspondence in Archives of Migration with Dr. Faime Alpagu
Connecting Personal Narratives to Collective Histories
Location
Fine Arts : 533
Date & Time
November 20, 2024, 4:00 pm – 5:00 pm
Description
The Department of History presents:
Audio-Visual Migration Correspondence in Archives of Migration: Connecting Personal Narratives to Collective Histories
Drawing on critical perspectives of archival practices addressed by
scholars such as Jacques Derrida and Achille Mbembe, Dr. Faime Alpagu
discusses archival practices of migration in the German-speaking world. She focuses on a case study of a family that migrated from Turkey
to Germany as “guest workers” in the 1970s, with their materials being
archived at DOMiD - Documentation Center and Museum of Migration in
Germany. Alpagu explores how personal, familial, and social class
backgrounds influence the production, archiving, and accessibility of
communication materials. By juxtaposing various data materials, such as
audio recordings, written correspondence, and a biographical-narrative
interview with the donor of materials, this talk aims to reveal the
richness and complexities of migration through a critical archival
perspective. This allows also to discuss the question of representation
from the angle of collecting and archiving.
Co-sponsored by the Center for Social Science Scholarship and the Department of Sociology, Anthropology, and Public Health
Dr. Faime Alpagu is a postdoctoral researcher funded by the MAX KADE Foundation in New York City. She holds a Ph.D. in sociology from the University of Vienna. Her dissertation project entitled "Migration Narratives Juxtaposed: A Sociological Analysis of Biographies, Photos and (Audio) Letters of 'Guest Workers' from Turkey living in Austria" was funded by a doctoral scholarship from the Austrian Academy of Sciences. Her current research focuses on the intersections between migration/refugee studies, audio-visual studies, archive studies, biographical research, and memory, applying an interpretative social research approach. She is currently working on a comparative study entitled Photographs, Biographies, and (Audio) Letters across Borders: A Comparative Study of Migration from Turkey to Austria and the United States.
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