APA safeguards the personal memory of the French

APA safeguards the personal memory of the French

On the blanket, a black and white photo showing a man in a single suit, a first name, Joao, and two adjectives, “worker and courageous”. By opening the book, a small family tree, written by hand and stuck with care, is delicately unfolding. A few days ago, Aldina took her courage in both hands to deposit this little book containing the story of her father, born in Portugal in 1927 and died in France in 2014, at the office of the Association for Autobiography and Autobiographical Heritage (APA). “A touching tribute, but also the account of immigration and a daily worker, told from the interior. It’s very precious, ”comments Marion Vallée Carecchio, his director.

Since 1992, this structure installed in Ambérieu-en-Bugey (Ain) has collected personal texts, from secret journals to travel diaries through correspondence. Once read and archived, they become a unique resource for a large audience, whether historians in search of vintage testimonies, artists in search of inspiration or individuals in full genealogical work.

Nearly 4,500 documents preserved

The idea came to Philippe Lejeune, recognized theorist of autobiography, in the late 1980s. In search of newspapers of young girls of the 19th century, he appealed to individuals. The Chaveyriat-Dumoulin family decides to donate him to the newspaper of an ancestor called Claire Pic. It will be the very first text collected.

Thirty years later, the association received nearly 4,500 documents which it retains in four archive alleys. At the turn of a drawer, one can come across the tender love letters of a soldier to his “dear little Jeannot”, written during the First World War and discovered by chance, as on the intense and variegated chronicles of Helen Montgomery, a woman who chose a marginal life in the heart of the United States of the 2000s.

Special witnesses

“Sometimes we are entrusted with texts to prevent them from ending the attic, but often it is the authors themselves who wish to leave a trace or children who want to preserve the memory of their ancestors,” explains the director of the association. “This is only the point of view of ordinary people, but it tells eras, villages, habits … It would be a shame to lose these sensitive testimonies! “Consider Norbert and Danièle Godard-Livet, a couple from Lissieu (Rhône) having filed four documents at APA.

To be accepted, a text must meet several criteria: to be decipherable, of course, but also to relate an experience “as it has been lived” and not have been published or sold in more than 100 copies! Its circuit is then well prowled: the text passes into the hands of one of the seven groups of volunteers, divided into France, which checks its consistency – dates, places, context – and prepares a summary to better reference it.

An exciting approach for Sylvie, 75, former French professor and member of the Ambérieu-en-Bugey group: “Unlike fiction, we are required to immerse ourselves without judgment and with respect, and this sometimes takes the form of an investigation over the pages! Work can also prove to be “delicate” in the face of the themes encountered, most often war, illness and family dramas, which trigger the writing reflex.

Desire to write

In the contract, essential to supervise such an intimate gesture, each depositor expresses its provisions: some request for example to remain anonymous if their writings are cited or exploited. Because in the consultation room, authors of thrillers, directors and curious people follow one another. “Today, there is a real desire to tell and hear the story at the height of a man! »We see in the association. In 2022, some intimate newspapers allowed a documentary maker to bring to light the forgotten history of women at the 20th century household.

In its premises where to land each year up to 150 deposits, from the small package to the batch of filled boxes, the APA is now cramped. “Personal writing is a human tool with the countless benefits: to pour out, to think, to resist … so that the practice has never stopped! »Note Marion Vallée Carecchio, as evidenced by the success with young people in one of his latest forms, the newspaper *. To anticipate needs, the association now pushes the creation of a place that would be entirely dedicated to it: a House of Autobiography.

* Personal and regular writing expressing thoughts, opinions and objectives, aimed at keeping trace of his experiences and reflections.

Success recipes

A unique mission: If other projects were born elsewhere, the APA is the only one to play this role in France. The structure and its city have thus become a real reference in the field of autobiography.

City support:

Since its creation, the association has benefited from the support of the municipality which welcomes it: it lends the premises where the offices are installed and has given it a place within the municipal archives.

Varied projects:

Throughout the year, APA collaborates in a series of various achievements including events, films and books, which make it known, such as the Vivre/Write Collection by Éditions du Mauconduit.

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