Time capsules offer a diverse array of archival opportunities for individuals or groups interested in introducing future generations to present-day society. Though they may vary in structure and format— from the traditional steel tomb buried for centuries containing newspaper clippings and old photographs to the Voyager and Voyager II spacecraft (Novak)— time capsules are an opportunity for anyone to create a monument to personal or collective history. The opportunistic nature of the traditional time capsule is immense considering that anyone can construct an archive. This is of particular importance when acknowledging that many groups experience little or no representation within society. Rodney Carter discusses the role of marginalized groups— those who are silenced by oppression or those who choose to engage in active silence as a form of resistance— within state archives. He suggests that minority groups “establish their own archives or other memory institutions…within their own communities, locally, nationally, and internationally, to preserve and share their own stories” (Carter 231). Time capsules are one such “memory institution” that provide an archival opportunity for these marginalized groups.
Though this may be the case, certain unintentional time capsules, such as archeological sites like the ancient city of Persepolis (Parsa), contain unpremeditated artifacts reflecting past human lives; in other words, no citizen was able to choose what survived as a remembrance for their existence. I wonder if the unintentional nature of this archive provides an opportunity for marginalized groups to secure a role within society better than archives designed explicitly for future generations.
Marjane Satrapi’s graphic narrative Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood describes her experience growing up in Iran during the Iranian Revolution (1978-79) and the Iran-Iraq war (1980-88). Although the life narrative alludes to the ancient city of Persepolis subtly— usually within familial stories transferred orally to a young Satrapi— there is a distinct connection to the city’s significance within the larger context of the autobiography. In my last blog post, I emphasized that the title of the graphic narrative is intended to connect the reader to Satrapi’s fundamentally Persian (Iranian) identity. In the context of archives, the city of Persepolis is an archive employed by Satrapi to emphasize the importance of the marginalized (although not by numbers) Persian population in Iran during the period within which her narrative was written. The Arab conquest of Persia in the 7th century introduced Islam to the Persian people (Farhamy 25). In a modern-day perspective, the Iranian revolution, for many Iranians, involved the idea of establishing an Islamic state (25). Satrapi, although she clearly distinguishes her family as active demonstrators opposed to the Shah’s regime, she also identifies her family as one of Persian intellectuals unwilling to revert back to a government system based on the Islamic religion. Satrapi uses the city of Pesepolis as archival evidence to demonstrate the great history that constitutes (a now marginalized) Persian heritage— a great history that was muddled by the Arab conquest of Persia.
Therefore, Carter may describe this archive, although an unintentional time capsule, as having the ability to resist the power wielded by the dominant groups within society. He might say that the ancient city of Persepolis, as utilised by Satrapi within her text, behaves as a “silent” resistor to the hegemonic frames created by Islamic principles (introduced by the Arab conquest of Persia) during the turmoil within Iran. Carter may argue that Persepolis is a form of resistance because its discussion within the life narrative notes that “conflicting interests exist,” which is just as important as directly “imped[ing] the wishes of the opposing forces” (Carter 228).
When examining traditional time capsules, like the Westinghouse time capsule created in New York City in 1939, a state established archive tends to appear (Andrews). The Westinghouse time capsule was established by the Westinghouse Electric and Manufacturing Company and is to be opened in 6939 A.D. (Andrews). This time capsule contains artifacts that are representative of a white population (Andrews). There are no artifacts that would indicate the issues of slavery within America, nor act as a reminder of the poverty experienced by many during the Great Depression. The Westinghouse time capsule provides a white perspective promoted by the hegemonic white class within the American government and business. On the other hand, the archival work that the city of Persepolis does actually represents a marginalized world, providing important information that would likely have been forgotten to Iranian society, making the archeological site of Persepolis nobler in its duties to all members of society. Therefore, it appears that in this situation, unintentional archives like archeological sites may provide a more accurate depiction of society because there is no opportunity to select what image is to be represented to future generations.
Works Cited
Satrapi, Marjane. Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood (vol 1). New York: Pantheon, 2004.
Farhamy, Lisa. “Iranian Nationalism.” The Public Purpose, vol. 5, pp. 19-30, https://www.american.edu/spa/publicpurpose/upload/Iranian-Nationalism.pdf. Accessed 26 February 2017.
Carter, Rodney G.S. “Of Things Said and Unsaid: Power, Archival Silences, and Power in Silence.” Archivaria 61, 2006, pp. 215-33, http://archivaria.ca/index.php/archivaria/article/view/12541. Accessed 25 February 2017.
Andrews, Evan. “8 Famous Time Capsules.” History, 7 March 2016, http://www.history.com/news/history-lists/8-famous-time-capsules. Accessed 26 February 2017.
Novak, Matt. “What is a Time Capsule?” Paleoffuture, 1 December 2015, http://paleofuture.gizmodo.com/what-is-a-time-capsule-1531521900. Accessed 25 February 2017.