"Mal d'Archive"

"Mal d'Archive" refers to the emotional or psychological discomfort associated with archives, collections of past records, documents, or memories. It captures the feeling of unease, nostalgia, or loss that can arise when confronting the permanence of history or managing overwhelming amounts of stored information. This term highlights how archives are not just neutral repositories, but also evoke complex feelings about memory, identity, and the passage of time. In essence, it is the subtle, often complex emotional response experienced when engaging with stored memories or historical records.