Cultural Memory and Western Civilization

Functions, Media, Archives
Erscheinungsjahr 2011
ISBN: 978-0-521-16587-7
Verlag: Cambridge University Press

Buch, Englisch, 422 Seiten, Format (B × H): 152 mm x 229 mm, Gewicht: 685 g

Cultures invest great efforts into creating a long-term memory on the basis of oral transmission, media technology and institutional frameworks. This book provides an introduction to the concept of cultural memory, focusing on the 'arts' of its construction, particularly various media such as writing, images, bodily practices, places and monuments. Examining the period from the European Renaissance to the present, Aleida Assmann reveals the close association between cultural memory and the arts, arguing that the artists who have supplemented, criticized, transformed and opposed it are its most lucid theorists and acute observers. Her analysis also addresses the interaction of cultural memory with individual memory and the ways in which cultural memory supports or subverts social and political identity constructions. Ultimately, this book offers a comprehensive overview of the history, forms and functions of cultural memory, which has become a central analytical tool for scholars across disciplines.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Assmann, Aleida

Fachgebiete

• Geisteswissenschaften Geschichtswissenschaft Weltgeschichte & Geschichte einzelner Länder und Gebietsräume Weltgeschichte

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Introduction; Part I. Functions: 1. Memory as ars and vis; 2. THE sECULARIZATION oF mEMORY – MEMORIA, FAMA, HISTORIA; 3. The battle of memories in Shakespeare's histories; 4. Wordsworth and the wound of time; 5. Memory boxes; 6. Function and storage: two modes of memory; Part II. Media: 7. Metaphors, models, and media of memory; 8. Writing; 9. Image; 10. Body; 11. Places; Part III. Storage: 12. Archives; 13. Permanence, decay, residue – problems of conversation and the ecology of culture; 14. Memory simulations in the wasteland of forgetfulness – installations by modern artists; 15. Memory as 'leidschatz'; 16. Beyond the archive; 17. Conclusion: the arts of memory.

Über Autor(innen)

Assmann, Aleida
Aleida Assmann is a professor of English literature and literary theory in the Department of Literature, Art and Media at the University of Konstanz in Germany. She has also been a guest lecturer at universities including Rice, Princeton, Yale, and the University of Chicago. She is the author of several German-language books and has received international recognition for her scholarship, including the Max-Planck-Research Prize for History and Memory in 2009 and an Honorary Doctorate from the Theological Faculty at the University of Oslo in 2008.