DIGITAL HUMANITIES, ARCHIVES, AND CULTURAL MEMORY: RECONFIGURING THE PAST IN THE DIGITAL AGE

Abstract

The rise of Digital Humanities (DH) has significantly changed how societies handle the preservation, organisation, access, and interpretation of cultural memory. Moving from physical storage spaces to digital networks has made historical resources more accessible but has also introduced new ways in which memory is shaped and controlled. Digital archives are not just passive tools; they are shaped by choices made during digitization, metadata creation, categorization, interface design, retrieval methods, access policies, and preservation strategies. These choices determine which memories are highlighted and which are overlooked. This article explores the connections among Digital Humanities, archival approaches, and cultural memory through a qualitative, interpretive analysis of digital archiving, with the 1947 Partition Archive as a key example. Using ideas from cultural memory theory, archival power, digital humanities, decolonial research, and critical data studies, this paper looks at how participatory archiving challenges traditional control over memory while developing new forms of authority in technology and curation. The article contends that digitalisation transcends mere documentation of history, actively shaping, disseminating, and impacting the authentication of cultural memory. The study also claims that an ethical digital archive must balance openness with privacy, technological access with cultural autonomy, and global compatibility with local language and regional specifics. The paper suggests a framework based on community involvement and leadership, decolonized metadata, open algorithmic processes, informed community participation, and sustainable digital preservation. The findings indicate that interactive digital archives can expand historical representation while concurrently introducing novel kinds of institutional and technological mediation