(Un)Clear History: Queer Memory, Precarity, and Instagram as Counter-archive
The subject of this research is the use of Instagram as a space for archiving and memorialising LGBTQI+ histories. Instagram constitutes a curated personal archive for viewing by other users of the site. However, there are numerous examples of Instagram pages being used as community spaces which archive and memorialise a particular time, place, community or way of life. I will argue that these spaces are examples of counter-archives. Queer histories are inextricably linked with loss, and counter-archives operate as a site of “negotiation between memory and desire” as communities try to piece together some version of a shared past (Appadurai 23). I would like to examine these accounts as spaces for reminiscence, while considering the ramifications of Instagram’s policies in relation to privacy and decency and their potential impact on LGBTQI+ content. The primary output of this research will be an article for peer-reviewed publication.
Main Research Topics
- Archives
- Amateur
- Social Media
- Memory
Curriculum Vitae
- PhD Candidate in Film & Screen Media, University College Cork
- Lecturer: Screen Industries, BA Film & Screen Media, UCC (2022; 2024)
- Lecturer: Introduction to Film Studies, BA in Film & Digital Media, NUI Galway (2021)
Publications and Presentations
- Scally, Ellen (2023). Missing Images, Haunted Legacies: Tracing Constructions of Irish Nationhood Through Early Film’s Fragments. Haunted Futures Conference, University College Cork. Conference Presentation.
- Scally, Ellen (2023). Amateur Homes for Amateur Histories: Considering the Role of Hobbyists and Collectors in Preserving Nonprofessional Cine-culture in Ireland. International Association of Media History Biennial Conference, Université de Québec á Montréal. Conference Presentation.