Article
Review: Archiving the Unspeakable: Silence, Memory, and the Photographic Record in Cambodia by Michelle Caswell
The American Archivist
(2015)
Abstract
The Khmer Rouge photographed prisoners at Tuol Sleng prison before executing them. These mug shots mutely attest to human rights crimes by the former Cambodian regime. As Michelle Caswell deftly examines the archival evidence of genocide, these photographs witness atrocities that are at once both “unspeakable” in their horror and also unspoken, due to the silence of the 5,109 killed at Tuol Sleng. Taking a “records-centered approach” to this topic, Caswell both explores the contributions archival theory can make to “the ongoing discussion about evidence, power, and historical production” and challenges archivists to “embrace their own power to counter the silences embedded in records, particularly those that document human rights abuse”
Keywords
- Cambodia,
- Photographic archives
Disciplines
Publication Date
July 14, 2015
DOI
10.17723/0360-9081.78.1.265
Citation Information
Randall C. Jimerson. "Review: Archiving the Unspeakable: Silence, Memory, and the Photographic Record in Cambodia by Michelle Caswell" The American Archivist Vol. 78 Iss. 1 (2015) p. 265 - 268 Available at: http://works.bepress.com/randall_jimerson/37/