REMEMBRANCE IN THE CITIZEN HUMANITIES : Co-producing memories and historical knowledge

Abstract: This dissertation explores the relationship between remembrance and citizen humanities. Combining the study of three qualitative empirical sources (an explorative comparison of five citizen humanities projects, an autonetnography conducted in one of the projects and the observation and analysis of the interaction of the online community in said project) the epistemic culture in citizen humanities and how remembrance is enacted in this context are addressed. The findings indicate that the participatory epistemic culture inherent to the citizen humanities allows a limited number of participants to transcend the roles that are assigned as mere data collectors, pursuing their own independent research projects. In this context, remembrance takes place in two levels, first by creating cultural mnemonic manifestations in the form of searchable metadata, transcribed data, digitized objects, images and rerecorded stories and second, by the act of creating knowledge and sharing it with the community. Finally, it is suggested that in the context of the citizen humanities, the traditional dichotomy of history vs. memory is challenged by the figure of the citizen historian, as this subject creates historical knowledge but also enacts mnemonic practices exemplified by the creation of cultural mnemonic manifestations and by recalling, recognizing, and localizing memories, both their own and from others.