Archive Essays - Jasmine Kaur
British Library Archives
Friend's House Archives
Black Cultural Archives
Cambridge Archives
Women's Library Archives
Imperial War Museum
The Keep Archives
Tate Reading Rooms
Exploring London was crucial to understanding the ways in which Modernist artists and writers were influenced by their time and place. Although we can not go into the time period of the 1900s, the archives allowed us to peek back into time. However, in many ways it was like taking a peek into the contemporary world. Similarly, this digital arts and humanities projects seeks to engage its viewers and audience, in hopes of creating new, fulfilling academic realms.
British Library
IMG_7001.movBritish Library Archives: Asian and African Studies
Interestingly, in the archives of the British Library, I had mistakenly ordered a book titled "Letters to a Friend" 1950-1984 (see fig.1). At first glance, I thought it was about Mahatma Gandhi, but these letters were in fact exchanged between the prime minister of India, Indira Gandhi, and the first woman to serve on the UAW committee, Dorothy Norman. It was interesting to see the ways in which the private and public lives of both Gandhi and Norman existed in solidarity. This piece has been read as an insight into the ways in which Gandhi's life can be seen through her love for artistic expression, and apolitical behaviors. However, any document can be read in two different time periods and have either the same or entirely different meaning. As French historian, Arlette Farge emphasizes in The Allure of the Archives, the process of the archives includes looking at material through a different perspective, and "unconsciously" (63) and "surreptitiously" (63) reaching new observations. Such was the case in this scenario. For example, in my reading of this piece, I connected it to the 1994 "brutal army assault on the holy Sri Harmandir Sahib (see fig. 2)," (United News of India) an order Indira Gandhi executed, known as Operation Bluestar. Laws and orders put into place can be seen as necessary in the moment of occurrence, but it is crucial for contemporary scholars to examine the ways in which such actions limited access to the power of the civilians; infringed upon their human rights, safety, and peace of mind.
With a mild observation on the unjust attack on the Sikhs' and their religious space, I began to see the complexities within the struggle for India's independence. For example, there was an internal struggle between the communities of India, separating the people based on religion and caste. In the sarkar's effort to have a sole, dominating religious practice interwoven in politics, the Sikhs' were deprived of the chance to co-exist amongst a community that allows diversity. Furthermore, I noticed a lack of recognition of the Sikhs' in the war for India's independence; After being promised the region of Punjab in exchange for their allegiance in the war, their efforts for freedom were veiled. As they were fighting for the freedom of India, their individual freedom was being suppressed. In relation to an idea observed in the writings of Virginia Woolf, it becomes crucial to examine the relation of the body and state; is there a disassociation? Does the lives of the civilians belong to the state? At what extent do we create a boundary between them? The attack on the holy Sri Harmandir Sahib can be seen as a means of asserting dominance on the Sikh community, and the pilgrims there. It can also be described as an effort to eliminate the literature, culture, and history of the Sikh community.
It becomes necessary to ask: how can one extend the realms of peace and freedom amongst all? Amongst all the groups; regardless of sex, gender, caste, and religion.
This experience in the archive has lead to the follow research questions:
How does war ruin identity, and set forth false promises of happiness?
Why was the Sikh community deprived of the right to have an identity?
How does Gandhi's Operation Bluestar complicate the tensions amongst the diverse, ethic groups in India of 1984?
As there was a fight for the independence for India, there was an internal battle at play amongst its people in the name of religion, and caste. In the contemporary, what are some struggles that can be seen as multifaceted? How can we overcome the layers of oppression on human rights? How does an intersection of religion within politics complicate the safety of a nation?
During my very first time in the archives, I learned that the process of researching is not linear, but in fact recursive. After reviewing the material from the archives, museums, and Bloomsbury texts, such gatherings guided me towards my next research project, which situates itself amongst Mulk Raj Anand's pacifist works. This is extremely current, as author of Modernist fiction, Jessica Berman argues, modernist narratives shape the ways in which one imagines justice. Along with Anand, the Bloomsbury sisters Virginia Woolf, and Vanessa Bell, as well as Duncan Grant were pacifists. My visits to the British Library archives have allowed me to explore pacifism as a set of ideologies, as peace studies writer, Charles Andrews describes it in Writing Against War.
Friend's House Archives
This 1934 pamphlet was published by Kathleen E. Innes and the Friends’ Peace Committee. It is titled, Woman And War, extending the conversation Woolf introduces in Three Guineas, that women will help bring change in terms of total war because they do not benefit from it; nor do they have any investments in such a patriarchal system; Although women are allowed to have jobs, the disparities exist within the systems, making them unequal; the wages are not simply low, but they are unequal to the male pay. As women have been minorities, they will be the ones to end more than just war; they will overcome patriarchy, inequality, and fascism.
One of the tenants of the Outsiders’ Society, as Woolf describes in Three Guineas, would be to “maintain an attitude of complete indifference” (127). This indifference to war is on the basis that a woman does not share the “patriotic emotion” (127) nor the “manly qualities which fighting develops” (127). This is important because Woolf draws on the roots of war; patriarchy. Innes’s pamphlet foreshadows Woolf’s Outsider Society (lecture 1/8/2023). The overlap between Woolf’s efforts to aid Spain, and Innes’s arguments against the cruelty of war, are present. Innes’s work is an example of how the simplest forms, such as contributing to the act of writing in a pamphlet, can bring about revolutionary change. It is interesting how the author debunks the argument for war. In this case, many argue that a substitution must be set forth if war is cease to exist. Interesting, Innes describes the “thrill of battle” (2) as a “great misery” (2). She challenges the need for a substitution for something so horrid as war. Another important take in this piece is her use of referring to the war as something that is “deliberate” (8) and unavoidable. As a means to move forward and past the disparities, this pamphlet, like Three Guineas, sets forth the argument that war favors none; not man or women, not in the name of masculinity or patriotism.
Black Cultural Archives
In the Black cultural archives, I found a document that was produced with a typewriter, titled “Young Sikh Girls in Britain” and it reminded me of a quote from Virginia Woolf’s A Room of One's Own that reads, “I thought how unpleasant it is to be locked out; and I thought how it is worse, perhaps, to be locked in.” In Three Guineas, Woolf mentions two evils; being the daughter of an educated man or in a professional system (90). The archival document made me think of how everyone has struggles to overcome, regardless of class and status; Woolf’s educated women are stuck between the “devil and the deep sea” (90) while the young Sikh girls wonder if Britain is a secure country, in comparison to their motherland, India. In relation to Woolf’s struggle of living in her country as an “outsider,” (Three Guineas 127) this archival document urges the audience to recognize the feelings in which Sikh’s were misidentified. However, it also highlights diasporic identities. For example, it comes to show that struggles of identity have not only continued to be present for women in all of history, but they are multi faceted. This document represents the layers of struggles within Britain, as the feminist struggle becomes augmented; an identity crisis in which one feels stuck between, and yet not fully a part of neither the American nor the Indian culture. The document has recorded the responses of individuals after they were asked “what it felt like to them” growing up in Britain as a young Sikh. It sets forth the struggle of being a Sikh person in Britain. Some questions it raises are if it is better to be in Britain or India, and how some people misidentify Sikhs with Muslims and Hindus. It also shows the struggle of living in Britain with the duty of upholding the traditions of an Indian culture. While unveiling the struggles from the past, we can see the resemblance to the same struggles today. It also forces us to see the ways in which these struggles of gender/sex, class, and identity build upon another; One of the struggles Woolf's Three Guineas demonstrates is of being a woman in the upper class, while the British Sikhs grapple with a loss of identity, and clash of cultures.
Cambridge Kings College Archives Centre
View from Cambridge library, 2023.
In “Living in Squares, Loving in Triangles…” author Amy License describes the young days of Bloomsbury group member, and Virginia Woolf’s husband, Leonard Woolf. Influenced by Thoby Stephen, Leonard would “trespass” (107) and roam around the countryside of Cambridge. License continues to add that Woolf would later characterize their different backgrounds as “privileged versus cowardice” (107). In relation to our experience at Cambridge, the restrictive atmosphere was felt. It makes one wonder: to what extent are the realms of higher education access for all? And at what cost must we be kept at a distance?
License, Amy. “Living in Squares, Loving in Triangles: The Lives and Loves of Virginia Woolf and the Bloomsbury Group.” 2015.
The Bloomsbury members can be studied as a group of influential critics who sought to spread social awareness on war, and peace. For example, Roger Fry, Duncan Grant, and Vanessa bell created alternative realms of peace through their artwork. Other Bloomsbury writers such as Virginia Woolf , E.M. Forester, and Mulk Raj Anand used literature to offer readers a look into reality, and socio-political issues. Woolf writes, “we can best help you to prevent war not by repeating your words and following your methods, but by finding new words and creating new methods” (Three Guineas). Another Bloomsbury writer, was David Garnett, lover of Duncan Grant. He was a conscientious objector, who helped join the Quakers aid relief with the Friend’s work. His work demonstrates a pacifist attitude towards war, including World War 1.
Interestingly, the King's College Archive Centre in Cambridge has collected a piece titled “The Friends Work for War Victims in France” (see fig. 1) by Roger Fry. This piece is significant in that it tells the reality of a broken France after war, but through the use of story-telling. This archival piece situates a story about walking through the streets after war, and stories of people who are trying to rebuild life here, along with the presence of aid workers to show that their contributions matter. It is a mixture of a story, and narrative; written in the tone of an aid worker’s experience and will to aid the civilians after war. It tells the heartbreaking story of life after war; broken homes, broken roads, and broken dreams. The reader can feel a sense of lost identity while reading the lines. The author uses powerful words, and at other times, causally drops words such as “shell fire” and phrases such as German ‘dove’ which are important because it shows how war disrupts the rhythm of nature.
Through its use of poetic form, the audience feels the disruption war sets forth for the course of life and nature; the birds, the house walls, everything is broken. The reader is taken on a journey in this piece to walk the streets of France after war. As I read this, I felt a sense of hope slowly becoming less and less with each line, starting in as soon as lines 4-5; A sense of decay is felt. Apart from the use of story telling, there is the use of poetic form which is crucial to allowing the reader feel emotions of high to low, fulfilling its purpose as an anti-war piece of literature.
Women's Library Archives
As Woolf says, in Three Guineas, let's read in between the lines, if not the lines (93). This is in reference to the autobiographies that did not account for the professions of women, as “there are no lives of professional women”(91). However, archives allows us to reveal the efforts of women, even when not listed directly in autobiographies, which kept record only of men. The archival document on the left situates itself with the role of women after World War I. Drinking is described as the most powerful foe of the nation within the pamphlet titled “A Problem for Women” (3). Dr. Foster’s lecture discusses the importance of caring for the other, and our responsibility to the other when one is in danger of bodily harm (lecture 1/8/23). In relation to Three Guineas, the pamphlet is an example of how women came together to “remedy the evil” (Three Guineas 89). Here, the evil being excessive use of alcohol. Interestingly, Woolf describes financing a “party in the House of Commons,”(83) passing bills, and running newspapers “not of silence, but of speech” (83) all as examples of woman brining change through the use of their professions. In the pamphlet, lady Astor is recognized, as she is the first woman to give a speech in British Parliament. It discusses the votes needed and the urgency for the Temperance movement.
The drinking problem within the society of 1919 can be seen as a direct effect of the war. The pamphlet is trying to awake the conscious of the society and urge them to open their eyes and see that they are not contributing to the reconstruction of society; they must do their part. “The first speech ever delivered in the British Parliament by Lady Astor on the subject of temperance. After World War I, the efforts to reconstruct the society, its values, and its buildings are represented in this pamphlet. It seeks to present that argument around prohibition, but in favor of Local option; public control in order to “eliminate profit-making as an incentive to the manufacture of alcoholic liquor” (Pamphlet, 3).
Imperial War Museum
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(fig. 3) Charleston House
The poster on the left titled “We Do Not Want Conscription” represents a technique in which the government pulled citizens into the war efforts (see fig. 1). It reminds me of a poster in the Black Cultural Archives that said you should be “thankful” you have a roof over your head; This statement refuses to take into account the type of neighborhood, the type of roof and the decaying environment that the household is in.
During World War I, many Bloomsbury group members such as Vanessa Bell, Clive Bell and David Garnet were conscientious objectors. Objectors refused to engage in the war effort. An example discussed by Dr. J Ashley Foster throughout lectures was of Vanessa Bell. Her and Duncan Grant moved to a beautiful farm house, famously known as Charleston House. Instead of contributing to the war effort through arms and violence, their farming provided the country of England with food through agriculture. For images of Charleston House, see figure 3. D.H Lawrence was also a conscientious objector. Some conscientious objectors' refused to participate in armed serves based on religious beliefs, others on ethics of moral.
The poster in fig.1 is trying to use a logical appeal to emotions for men ages 18-41 to enlist in the war. It says, “we do not want conscription but 3,000 men are wanted now” and “come along now, and keep your freedom” which is a very interesting choice of words. It forces the individual into a very odd choice; basically saying enlist yourselves now or be forced to do so later. But they are being forced either way. It's interesting how the word “conscription” is written in bold and is the biggest in comparison to the other words. It’s trying to cause terror amongst the people. I think it's interesting how the word “conscription” is written in bold and is the biggest in comparison to the other words. It’s trying to cause terror amongst the people. I feel like I got an inside look into the terrors of World War I. It seems they have no choice, even if they poster says “we don’t want conscription” if forces them into a difficult decision with not many options.
A few examples that demonstrate anti-war allegiance are Clive Bell's Peace At Once pamphlet (see fig. 2), and 1917 leaflets published by the Quaker organization, the Friends' Service Committee (Imperial War Museum, catalog number LBY K. 89/520).
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The Keep Archives
The same month Three Guineas was published, this letter was sent to Woolf. There are three important things to note in this letter in comparison to the next fan letter:
Allegiance to England is brought to question. Questions of patriarchy become questions of loyalty.
The divide between Woolf’s vision of peace and pacifism is compared to the pacifism that men at Cambridge sought for.
The speaker also addresses a question that is related to one's stance on the war and confines Woolf to be either in favor of patriotism or identify as a traitor who thinks the empire should “submit without resistance to becoming a minor German State”.
I would imagine Woolf’s response to the letter above to resemble one of her passages in Three Guineas: “What does ‘our country’ mean to me, an outsider?” (127). In this section, she reflects on the past injustices done to women in the country of England and how women have always been considered second class citizens, and with little rights of land, wealth and property to their name.
In The Allure of the Archives, French historian, Arlette Farge says, working in the archives, “You are taking preexisting forms and readjusting them in different ways to make possible a different narration of reality. This is not a question of repetition, but of beginning anew, of dealing the cards over again. You do it almost unconsciously, going through a series of motions and gestures, interacting with the material through a joint process of contradiction and construction. Each process corresponds to a choice, which can sometimes be predictable and sometimes appear surreptitiously, as if it were imposed by the contents of the documents themselves” (63). As the archives allow us to bring to light different perspectives, the letter above reveals that Woolf's piece was seen as a mark towards change. This fan letter sent to Woolf three months after Three Guineas was published, her work was remarked in different ways than before. For example, the speaker refers to Woolf’s piece as “dangerous stuff,” “Inflammable material,” “sub-conscious mind” and “fresh courage” that indicates the revolutionary attitude Woolf’s work transpired.
The Tate Reading Room
Th Artists' International Association service sought to aid those who were being harmed during times of war, through the use of art; It captured things such as flowers, the seaport, and roman jugs; things that represent daily life. Scholars argue an example of this is Vanessa Bell’s painting, Wharves. One piece of document has an infinite number of realities. When we look at the paintings exhibited, they all create an alternative universe; far away from the horrors of war and tradition. The Bloomsbury group introduced post-Impressionism to painting, bringing together many artists that impacted England during the war, with the various different types of schemes of design. One cannot describe the Bloomsbury group, the war or the efforts of the aid relief groups in one word because the characteristics and the effects it had on people varied. Internal and external factors derived from the war, and the things the Bloomsbury group did within their literature and art extended to ideas of peace, identity in times of war, friendship, the importance of companionship, and an urge to awake one's inner consciousness. We can see the ways in which everyone contributed to the war efforts. For example, one can argue artists contributed to the war effort in a pacifist way, but it can be argued that the paintbrush is a weapon itself. Bell’s house moved away from representing war as a reality of life; it painted other things such as pleasant images of flowers, with radiant colors, celebrating life. The AIA exhibition sets forth the alternative reality that the painters created, away from war, along with the revolutionary modern art such as realism, impressionism and representational works.
In "The Allure of the Archive", historian Arlette Farge says, “The historian…use[s] the archives as a vantage point from which she [they] can bring to light new forms of knowledge that would otherwise have remained shrouded in obscurity” (54). The posted from the Imperial War Museum brings to light the ways in which the civilians were manipulated; It was made to seem like as if they had a choice to go to war, but in reality, as Woolf says in Three Guineas, it is a choice of evils” (90). The poster is an example of how the government tried to make it seem like they have a choice to not go to war, when in reality, they don’t have much of a choice; they either go, or the fear of being drafted will come to play. From the Bloomsbury group, Clive Bell and Vanessa Bell began life on a farm and Clive was exempt from the war. Both, conscientious objection were lucky to escape the horrors of war, but the archives bring to light the different implications of escaping war for different groups. The effects of archival material, when put into conversation with Three Guineas, and the experiences of the Bell’s, can recreate the tensions and horrors they must have had to live through. One of the most important take-away from the archives is that they allow us to look back into history and discover hidden truths.
Farge also stresses on the importance of setting aside what one has already learned, when in the archives. This was the most important lesson that I will always keep with me because it is not easy, and yet it opens the door to do research in progressive ways.
Russell Square, London
"Living in Squares, Loving in Triangles" is a phrase, that Amy License borrows, from critic, Dorothy Parker, using it as the title of her work on the Bloomsbury group. Walking through these streets pictures on the left, I felt inspired to redefine my life and explore endless boundaries. The Bloomsbury group is an inspiration to its readers, writers, scholars, and the community to challenge traditional conventions, seek out new experiences, and to discover the unknown with thrill and excitement.