The Ligurian Archives of Folk Writingis an educational and research laboratory of the Department of Antiquity, Philosophy and History of the University of Genoa, whose aim is to collect, catalogue and study the private writings of ordinary people, including letters, diaries and memories of migrants, soldiers and prisoners.
In nearly twenty-five years of work the Ligurian Archives gathered a huge heritage made up of over 250 archival units including an endowment exceeding 1,000 school exercise books, and 60,000 collections of letters.
The Archives differ from many other Italian and foreign similar institutes, similarly interested in autobiography, for their merely scientific purposes. The documents collected, in fact, are used to deal with subjects as the literacy processes and the use of writing, migration, the two World Wars, and fascism in a “bottom-up” perspective”.
The Archives contain the so-called “Great War Endowment”, a remarkable collection of evidence written by soldiers at the trenches, letters by fighters, autobiographical diaries and memoires, as well as some photographic collections.
The Task Force will avail itself of the scientific collaboration of the Archive and use its materials for its exhibition and educational activities, free-of-charge, as provided for by the Memorandum of Understanding signed on 8th July.
Additional information:
The website of the Archivio ligure della scrittura popolare