Invented archives. A Theoretical Problem for Historical Research or for Archiving?

This essay explores the phenomenon of “invented archives” and its implications for archival science and historical research in the digital age. These new types of archives, often thematic and non-traditional, emerge as responses to digitization and the need for open access, challenging the classical principles of archival science based on the relationship between the record creator, accumulation, and documentary preservation. On another front, the essay delves into the theoretical origins of “invented archives,” analyzing how these documentary collections draw inspiration from the methodologies of histoire sérielle developed in the 1950s, where seriality and the quantitative analysis of historical data were central to the construction of a new historiography. With the spread of digital technologies, these methodologies have evolved, leading to the creation of documentary complexes that do not follow traditional archival hierarchies but focus on flexibility and the reorganization of data.