In his very interesting book The System of Objects, Jean Baudrillard included a chapter called “A Marginal System: Collecting”. He wrote:
Among the various meanings of the French word objet, the Littré dictionary gives this: ‘Anything which is the cause or subject of a passion. Figuratively and most typically: the loved object’. It ought to be obvious that the objects that occupy our daily lives are in fact objects of a passion, that of personal possession, whose quotient of invested affect is in no way inferior to that of any other variety of human passion.
[...]
The object pure and simple, divested of its function, abstracted from any practical context, takes on a strictly subjective status. Now its destiny is to be collected. Whereupon it ceases to be a carpet, a table, a compass, or a knick-knack, and instead turns into an ‘object’ or a ‘piece’.1
In the movie, during his ‘very rigid search’ for the woman that saved his grandfather’s life, Jonathan Safran Foer shows several times how and why a collector acts.
When asked about why he keeps on collecting keepsakes, Jonathan answers: “Because sometimes I’m afraid I’ll forget”. As Terry Shoptaugh writes in his essay “Why Do We Like Old Things? Some Ruminations on History and Memory“:
All of these things serve a similar function of reminding us of a particular time and place. As such, they can help the ordinary person encompass a sense of the past. [...] When we look at something that stimulates our memory, we are setting up a link between past and present. [...] Keepsakes can be crucial to this process, by serving as ‘triggers’ to stimulate memory.2
Everything Is Illuminated has a dreamy feeling that links perfectly with this sentence by Jean Baudrillard: “just as the function of dreams is to ensure the continuity of sleep, objects ensure the continuity of life”3
1 BAUDRILLARD, Jean. “A Marginal System: Collecting”, in The System of Objects. London, New York: Verso, 2005. p.91-92.
1 Also published under the title “The System of Collecting” in:
ELSNER, J. and CARDINAL, R. (ed.) The Cultures of Collecting. London: Reaktion Books, 1994.
2 Shoptaugh, T. “Why Do We Like Old Things? Some Ruminations on History and Memory“. The Heritage Press, Minnesota State University. May-June 1991: 14-15.
3 BAUDRILLARD, op. cit. p.102.
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I was of the opinion that the past is past, and like all that is not now, it should remain buried along the side of our memories. But this was before the commencement of our very rigid search. Before I encountered the collector: Jonathan Safran Foer.
[...]
Alex (Eugene Hutz) – Father informs me you are writing a book about this trip. You are a writer?
Jonathan Safran Foer (Elijah Wood) – No.
A – Then what is this?
JSF – It’s a catalog.
A – Catalog.
JSF – I don’t know why they told you that. I’m not a writer. I mean, I write, but I’m more of a… collector, really.
A – And what do you collect?
JSF – Things. Family things.
A – It is a good career, yes?
JSF – No, it’s not a career. It’s just something I do.
A – Why?
JSF – I don’t know. Why does anybody do anything? It’s just something to do.
A – I understand.[...]
A – Why do you do this?
JSF – Maybe sometimes I’m afraid I’ll forget.
