In the following interview, Burkely Hermann elaborates on titles mentioned in his blog and in a column for Archivists on the Issues, a newsletter of Society of American Archivists Issues and Advocacy Section Forum. In this essay and in a blog he authors, Hermann speaks of a wonderful range of animated series, films, and other media in which archivists appear.
He is speaking in response to my questions (ST).
Hermann is Metadata Librarian for the National Security Archive and current I&A Blog Coordinator.
Interview:
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Susan Tucker (ST): You mention in your article that “nuances in the archival field are often lost in popular depictions.” It made me consider the meetings of archivists in general in fiction, whether those comings together are formal or informal. Are there two archivists from your readings who meet? If so, how is their meeting handled?
Burkely Hermann (BH): That’s a good question. I can’t even think of anything I’ve come across which shows two archivists meeting one another. Of course there are examples of archivists working together, like those in Lore Olympus. However, many archives or archivy locations are depicted without any active archivists, like the underground town archives in Amphibia or the scrolls stashed inside a dead tree in Rapunzel’s Tangled Adventure. This is made worse by the fact that writers for pop culture media I’ve come across seem to have little knowledge about how archives function in reality, leading some to falsely think they are the same as libraries.
ST: And another related question: Who is being trained under another archivist? Do you see that sort of relationship in fiction?
BH: In general, I haven’t actually seen that relationship in fiction, as archivists are often depicted as solitary characters. However, I’ve seen it depicted in some fan fictions that I’ve come across, but not in any animated series, webcomics, or other pop culture media that I can recall.
ST: Tell me a little about your blog on Kore from Lore Olympus, a webcomic, please. What made you begin this particular column now at (https://archivyrep.wordpress.com/2020/11/28/libraries-records-and-kore-archives-on-mount-olympus/). I particularly loved this statement about her finding her work a “labyrinth.” When you read this word, what did you envision she meant? Does her labyrinth come close to your own image of searching, say for a particular item in many boxes?
BH: In terms of describing her workplace as a labyrinth, I think she means it in the literal sense, as she sees it as a confusing place that is hard to navigate. For me, I would not see that word as accurately describing searching for a particular item in many boxes. The word labyrinth itself is different from a maze, in that a maze is a complex puzzle with many possible paths and directions, while a labyrinth has a single route to the center, without any problems with navigation. In this sense, Kore is using it in the same sense as “maze.” I would not say a maze nor a labyrinth accurately describes an archives, albeit a disorganized one.
ST: And finally: Another statement that jumped out at me from your blog concerned Hades asking for “a memory from the records department.” Can you tell me more about how he phrases this and to whom he is speaking? What does it say to you, as an archivist, that he is asking for “a memory.” One! Are other users calling items such?
BH: In terms of asking for a memory from “the records department,” Hades is specifically asking the Fates (Lachesis, Clotho, and Atropos), who are effectively archivists in 1980s-style outfits, for a memory of a time he was drunk and saw a young woman (Kore). The memories are in the form of videotapes in this story. It makes sense in terms of the story that he is asking for a memory, more than that it is significant that the record is a memory itself, rather than a transcript, as it implies that the records are the true and accurate, without distortion.
In reality, memory can be faulty and can’t be relied upon on its own. Although it is obviously bad practice that the archivists are bribed by wine, so that Hades doesn’t have to fill out paperwork, it does fit with the story as it includes moments which foreshadows future points in the relationship between Hades and Kore. Otherwise, this series reminds me of how memories are defined as records of sorts throughout Infinity Train and throughout the 2015 film, Inside Out. In fact, the latter film includes a scene in which the characters walk through the “long-term memory storage” which functions similar to an archive in some ways, with archival stacks, of sorts, present. It is possible that similar themes will be in the sequel film as well.
ST: And one more generic question: Why do you think the character of archivists appeals to writers?
BH: That’s a tough question. I think archivists appeal to writers because they are seen as guardians of knowledge and keepers of records. In fact, the latter is stated in the short animated series Recorded by Arizal, in which the protagonist directly states her desire to be a “keeper.” On the flip side of this, some writers foolishly think that archivists and librarians are the same, which I’ve occasionally written about on my website. The worst example of this is Jocasta Nu in the Star Wars franchise, as she is a librarian/archivist but presides over an institution which is a hybrid of an archives and a library. On the other hand, she is also present in an episode of Tales of the Jedi, which involves one character putting in the right security codes to permanently delete a record in the Jedi archives (which looks like a data center) without anyone suspecting a thing, putting into context her arrogant, and untrue, declaration in Attack of the Clones that “if an item does not appear our records, it does not exist.”
Keeping (and Telling) the Past 