The aim of this two years master’s thesis in Archive, Library and Museum studies is to investigate how the National Library of Sweden collects, arranges and provides access to its collection of printed ephemera. As a comparison, the thesis also looks at how Lund University Library is working with the same tasks. The main sources of information in this thesis comes from participant observations and interviews conducted with informants within the two libraries mentioned above. Document studies of the library’s internal documents and the Swedish Legal Deposit Law has also been used to get additional information. The findings in this thesis has been analyzed with a model based on a practice theory and a knowledge organization theory. The starting point in the investigation was to look at how these two libraries receives printed ephemera through legal deposits, if there are any problems connected to the legal deposits and if that possibly has an influence on the printed ephemera collections. The next part of the investigation focuses on how these collections has been organized with various classification systems over the years. In addition to this the survey wanted to find out if- and in what way these different systems have had an effect on the availability of this material and what tools the libraries uses to make it easier to find specific material within the collections and make it available for users. The results of the investigation show that National Library of Sweden and Lund University Library resave a wide range of material throw legal deposits but not nearly as much as they should get. One big problem is that many producers print their material outside of Sweden and are not aware that they are obligated to give copies of this to the Swedish Legal Deposit Library’s. The survey also reached the conclusion that the way the material is arranged and stored has a big impact on how accessible it is. However, by using cataloguing and digitalization the libraries can make this material more visible, and thus also more accessible.

A presente dissertação tem por objetivo apresentar a degradação da experiência humana na modernidade a partir do diagnóstico feito por Walter Benjamin. Para tanto, num primeiro momento, parte-se de um rápido percurso da história da filosofia a fim de delinear o conceito de experiência e analisar um dos primeiros textos em que Benjamin trata diretamente do assunto, “Sobre um programa da filosofia vindoura”. Num segundo momento, busca-se demonstrar como vai acontecendo a decadência da experiência a partir do ensaio “Experiência e pobreza”, em que Benjamin considera que aos pobres de experiência resta apenas assumir uma nova barbárie. O tema também aparece em “O narrador”, em que o autor demonstra o aniquilamento de uma experiência, outrora sinônimo de sabedoria e autoridade, consolidada por meio de sua transmissão de geração em geração, própria de uma organização coletiva, comunitária, ritualística e artesanal. As formas narrativas correspondentes são sintomáticas deste processo de esfacelamento da experiência: a narração - que vigorava no solo de um tempo onde ainda tinha-se tempo para contar e ouvir histórias - fora substituída pelo romance, caracterizador dos indivíduos isolados e solitários, e este, por sua vez, substituído pela informação jornalística, forma narrativa fragmentada e desconexa. Analisar a questão da experiência (erfahrung) em Walter Benjamin é contrapô-la à noção de vivência (erlebnis). Na esfera da vivência, saturada de eventos e sensações, resta ao ser humano a capacidade de reagir a esses estímulos (reportando à noção de choque em Freud). A memória (e seu correlato – o esquecimento) é imprescindível à experiência, mas perante os choques, o ser humano só armazena suas vivências na camada mais superficial da consciência, impossibilitando recursos para a experiência estética ou poética. Num terceiro momento, procura-se, nesse estudo, fazer um diálogo entre as constatações e os conceitos da filosofia da experiência benjaminianas com algumas imagens literárias, buscando, na literatura, elementos que vicejam a reflexão filosófica. O conto de Jorge Luis Borges - “Funes, o memorioso” - e o trecho de “Cem anos de solidão”, de Gabriel Garcia Marquez, sobre a doença do esquecimento, são preciosos mananciais para esse fim. Por último, problematiza-se a constatação da degradação da experiência na modernidade. Discute-se a possibilidade da realização da experiência, bem como o resgate de seu aniquilamento provocado pelas idiossincrasias da contemporaneidade e, ainda, quais espaços propiciariam este possível resgate. / This thesis presents the degradation of human experience based on Walter Benjamin’s diagnosis of it. In order to do that, firstly a brief overview of the history of philosophy is presented so as to delineate the concept of experience and analyze one of the first texts in which Benjamin directly deals with the subject (“Sobre um programa da filosofia vindoura” – “On the Program of the Coming Philosophy”). Secondly, the decadence of experience is demonstrated in the essay “Experiência e pobreza” (“Experience and Poverty”), in which Benjamin considers that the poor of experience are left with only taking on a new barbarism. That theme is also dealt with in “O narrador” (“The Narrator”), in which the author demonstrates the annihilation of an experience once synonymous with wisdom and authority, consolidated through its transmission from generation to generation and proper to a collective, communitarian, ritualistic, and artisanal organization. The corresponding narrative forms are symptomatic of that process of experience ruin: narration, which thrived at a time when one had time to tell and listen to stories, was replaced by the novel, a characterizer of isolated and lonely individuals. The latter, in its turn, was replaced by journalistic information, a fragmented and disconnected narrative form. Analyzing the issue of enduring experience (erfahrung) in Walter Benjamin means opposing it to the notion of fleeting experience/ephemera (erlebnis). In the sphere of fleeting experience/ephemera, saturated with events and sensations, the human being is left with the capacity to react to those stimuli (reminding us of Freud’s notion of shock). Memory (and its correlate – oblivion) is essential to enduring experience, but in the presence of shocks, the human being only stores his fleeting experiences/ephemera on the most superficial layer of consciousness, precluding resources for the aesthetic or poetic experience. At a third moment, this study promotes a dialogue between the realizations and concepts mentioned above and some literary images, searching in literature for elements which cause philosophic reflection to bloom. Jorge Luis Borges’ short story “Funes, o memorioso” (“Funes the Memorious”) and the extract from Gabriel García Marquez’s Cem anos de solidão (One Hundred Years of Solitude) about the disease of forgetfulness are precious sources for that end. Lastly, the realization of the experience ruin in modernity is discussed. Is it still possible to have an enduring experience and rescue it from its annihilation caused by the idiosyncrasies of contemporary times? What possible spaces would allow that rescue?

A presente dissertação tem por objetivo apresentar a degradação da experiência humana na modernidade a partir do diagnóstico feito por Walter Benjamin. Para tanto, num primeiro momento, parte-se de um rápido percurso da história da filosofia a fim de delinear o conceito de experiência e analisar um dos primeiros textos em que Benjamin trata diretamente do assunto, “Sobre um programa da filosofia vindoura”. Num segundo momento, busca-se demonstrar como vai acontecendo a decadência da experiência a partir do ensaio “Experiência e pobreza”, em que Benjamin considera que aos pobres de experiência resta apenas assumir uma nova barbárie. O tema também aparece em “O narrador”, em que o autor demonstra o aniquilamento de uma experiência, outrora sinônimo de sabedoria e autoridade, consolidada por meio de sua transmissão de geração em geração, própria de uma organização coletiva, comunitária, ritualística e artesanal. As formas narrativas correspondentes são sintomáticas deste processo de esfacelamento da experiência: a narração - que vigorava no solo de um tempo onde ainda tinha-se tempo para contar e ouvir histórias - fora substituída pelo romance, caracterizador dos indivíduos isolados e solitários, e este, por sua vez, substituído pela informação jornalística, forma narrativa fragmentada e desconexa. Analisar a questão da experiência (erfahrung) em Walter Benjamin é contrapô-la à noção de vivência (erlebnis). Na esfera da vivência, saturada de eventos e sensações, resta ao ser humano a capacidade de reagir a esses estímulos (reportando à noção de choque em Freud). A memória (e seu correlato – o esquecimento) é imprescindível à experiência, mas perante os choques, o ser humano só armazena suas vivências na camada mais superficial da consciência, impossibilitando recursos para a experiência estética ou poética. Num terceiro momento, procura-se, nesse estudo, fazer um diálogo entre as constatações e os conceitos da filosofia da experiência benjaminianas com algumas imagens literárias, buscando, na literatura, elementos que vicejam a reflexão filosófica. O conto de Jorge Luis Borges - “Funes, o memorioso” - e o trecho de “Cem anos de solidão”, de Gabriel Garcia Marquez, sobre a doença do esquecimento, são preciosos mananciais para esse fim. Por último, problematiza-se a constatação da degradação da experiência na modernidade. Discute-se a possibilidade da realização da experiência, bem como o resgate de seu aniquilamento provocado pelas idiossincrasias da contemporaneidade e, ainda, quais espaços propiciariam este possível resgate. / This thesis presents the degradation of human experience based on Walter Benjamin’s diagnosis of it. In order to do that, firstly a brief overview of the history of philosophy is presented so as to delineate the concept of experience and analyze one of the first texts in which Benjamin directly deals with the subject (“Sobre um programa da filosofia vindoura” – “On the Program of the Coming Philosophy”). Secondly, the decadence of experience is demonstrated in the essay “Experiência e pobreza” (“Experience and Poverty”), in which Benjamin considers that the poor of experience are left with only taking on a new barbarism. That theme is also dealt with in “O narrador” (“The Narrator”), in which the author demonstrates the annihilation of an experience once synonymous with wisdom and authority, consolidated through its transmission from generation to generation and proper to a collective, communitarian, ritualistic, and artisanal organization. The corresponding narrative forms are symptomatic of that process of experience ruin: narration, which thrived at a time when one had time to tell and listen to stories, was replaced by the novel, a characterizer of isolated and lonely individuals. The latter, in its turn, was replaced by journalistic information, a fragmented and disconnected narrative form. Analyzing the issue of enduring experience (erfahrung) in Walter Benjamin means opposing it to the notion of fleeting experience/ephemera (erlebnis). In the sphere of fleeting experience/ephemera, saturated with events and sensations, the human being is left with the capacity to react to those stimuli (reminding us of Freud’s notion of shock). Memory (and its correlate – oblivion) is essential to enduring experience, but in the presence of shocks, the human being only stores his fleeting experiences/ephemera on the most superficial layer of consciousness, precluding resources for the aesthetic or poetic experience. At a third moment, this study promotes a dialogue between the realizations and concepts mentioned above and some literary images, searching in literature for elements which cause philosophic reflection to bloom. Jorge Luis Borges’ short story “Funes, o memorioso” (“Funes the Memorious”) and the extract from Gabriel García Marquez’s Cem anos de solidão (One Hundred Years of Solitude) about the disease of forgetfulness are precious sources for that end. Lastly, the realization of the experience ruin in modernity is discussed. Is it still possible to have an enduring experience and rescue it from its annihilation caused by the idiosyncrasies of contemporary times? What possible spaces would allow that rescue?

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Reid Concerts began in 1841 and were defined by Donald Francis Tovey as those concerts presented by the University of Edinburgh under the auspices of the Professors of Music, based on the guidance laid down in the will and codicil of General John Reid. Reid was a major benefactor who bequeathed funds for the establishment of the Chair of the Theory of Music at The University of Edinburgh with a condition attached to the bequest that a concert be held each year in his memory. This thesis will explore the development and evolution of the first 100 years of these concerts through the contents of the available original concert programmes and related ephemera held in the Centre for Research Collections at The University of Edinburgh - a valuable historical resource which has never been fully recorded or researched. Analysis of this resource will focus on the programming, people, personalities, places, and perspectives associated with the performances and offer insight into the choices and influences of the Professors of Music charged with the organisation and implementation of the concerts over an extended timescale from 1841 to 1941. To aid this analysis a searchable online database has been designed and developed to provide outline performance details and some background information on the contents of many of these Reid concert programmes: http://www.reidconcerts.music.ed.ac.uk. The database is both a finding aid to these contents and a research tool providing a basis for future studies. This research will contribute to the history of the University and City of Edinburgh and the social and musical history of concerts in the University from 1841. The findings emphasise the usefulness of printed concert programmes in recording trends in concert presentation and programming and will broaden the knowledge of this use of such ephemera for academic research.

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