Orientalisk institution eller institutionaliserad orientalism?
En arkivvetenskaplig studie av Carolina Redivivas orientaliska handskriftssamling.
Archival studiesOrientalismCollective MemoryPower (Social sciences)ManuscriptsArkivvetenskapOrientalismKollektivt minneMaktHandskrifter
This thesis aims to shed light on the collection of Oriental manuscripts at the Uppsala University Library Carolina Rediviva and how the collection is a part of the collective memory. The main question which is central for this thesis is: have orientalism and structures of power influenced the acquisition, arrangement and methods of accessability regarding the Oriental manuscripts? If yes, in what way and why? If no, how has this been avoided?The theoretical framework consists of four approaches: phenomenology, sociology of knowledge, orientalism and power which are applied to the archival concept of collective memory. The main source of material consists of three parts: the historical texts which gives an informational framework regarding the time and place in which the manuscripts were collected, the catalogues in which the manuscripts are described and the transcripted interviews alongside correspondence. Methodologically the thesis is based upon a qualitative method which also partly makes up the foundation for the main material. The methods used are interviews and text studies of manuscript catalogues, historical texts and exhibition catalogues. The usage of manuscript catalogues was, due to the limited time, restricted to one which is written in English, as for the informants they are limited to three.The result of this study shows that the historical foundation on which the Oriental manuscript collection came into existance rests on a basis consisting of orientalism and power structures. This foundation is somewhat reproduced in time and in some ways current regarding the arrangement and methods of accessability both in historical and contemporary approaches.