Abstract
This essay discusses some aspects of a project undertaken by the author to digitize a representative sample of materials from the Infa Yattara Family Library (IFYL) and contribute to the organization and accessibility of the library’s manuscripts through identifying and enhanced cataloging of the manuscripts. The IYFL houses a private collection from Timbuktu, but which has recently been relocated and re-established for its safety in the Malian capital of Bamako. This article draws parallels between this research and the author’s background conducting archaeological field work. Specifically, it examines how the concept of taphonomy—the natural and cultural processes by which the archaeological record is formed—can serve as a theoretical hinge for a productive reframing of methodological approaches and the broader compulsion towards preservation that is so central to heritage discourses and practices. By documenting a set of moments that push against the impulse to arrest the taphonomic and even reverse its impacts, this paper demonstrates the potential for embracing deterioration and loss in how scholars—librarians, conservators, curators and archaeologists alike—aspire to resurface both the textual and archaeological records and the social practices they materialize.
Résumé
Cet essai discute certains aspects d’un projet entrepris par l’auteur pour numériser un échantillon représentatif de documents de la bibliothèque familiale Infa Yattara (IFYL) et contribuer à l’organisation et l’accessibilité des manuscrits de la bibliothèque par l’identification et l’amélioration catalogage des manuscrits. L’IYFL abrite une collection privée de Tombouctou, mais qui a récemment été déplacé et rétabli pour sa sécurité dans Bamako, la capitale de Mali. Cet article établit des parallèles entre cette recherche et l’expérience de l’auteur dans la conduite de travail de terrain archéologique. Plus précisément, il examine comment le concept de taphonomie—le processus naturel et culturel par lequel les archives archéologiques sont formées—peuvent servir de base théorique charnière pour un recadrage productif des approches méthodologiques et de la compulsion plus large vers une préservation si centrale dans les discours et les pratiques patrimoniales. En documentant un ensemble de moments qui repoussent l’impulsion d’arrêter le taphonomique et même d’inverser ses impacts, cet article démontre le potentiel d’embrasser la détérioration et la perte dans la façon dont les érudits—bibliothécaires, conservateurs, conservateurs de musées, et archéologues—aspirent à refaire les archives archéologiques et à la fois les pratiques sociales qu’ils matérialisent.
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Notes
- 1.
For more details about the research on this particular manuscript bundle see the following: “Digitizing Timbuktu” https://repository.library.brown.edu/studio/collections/id_698/.
- 2.
This section is inspired by the chapter from Orhan Pamuk’s My Name is Red (Pamuk and Göknar 2001), entitled “I am a gold coin.” While some might consider what follows as borderline animism or an argument in favor of thingly agency, the intent is more an to decenter the various human actors (scholars, copyists, librarians, readers, etc.) as the sole authorities in defining the material practices of textuality and its forms of meaningful social engagement.
- 3.
Pastor Yatarra, although he was not resident in Timbuktu at the time of the occupation, faced several publicized death threats from the militant leadership.
- 4.
These are in various states of completeness ranging from a couple of ajza’ to dozens that are preserved in their entirety.
- 5.
It is not possible to determine whether this was merely accidental or an intentional act by someone with possession of the manuscripts for either scholarly or other purposes.
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Straughn, I. (2023). Flecks of Timbuktu on the Skin: Excavating the Unbound Aspects of a Manuscript Collection. In: Engmann, R.A.A. (eds) Timbuktu Unbound. Heritage Studies in the Muslim World. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-34824-2_6
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