Archiving Migration and Social Class:
A Case Study of Audio and Written Correspondence in DOMiD
Drawing on critical perspectives of archival practices addressed by scholars such as Jacques Derrida and Achille Mbembe, this workshop discusses archival practices of migration in the German-speaking world. The workshop 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. The workshop 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, the paper 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.
Dr. Faime Alpagu is a Postdoctoral Reserach Fellow in the Department of Germanic Languages.