Memory and Communication

Course convenor

Katalin Orban

Course content

Through theoretical texts and case studies, this course examines key concepts and questions of what is variously referred to as social, cultural, and collective memory. In what sense can one speak of collective memory, what is its relationship to the processes of individual memory, and how is it affected by orality and writing? We will discuss, among other things, lieux de mémoire, the heritage industry, imagined memory, and forms of nostalgia.

Indicative reading

Kansteiner, Wulf. 2002. Finding Meaning in Memory: A Methodological Critique of Collective Memory Studies.  History and Theory. 41: 179–197.

Assmann, Jan. 1992. Das kulturelle Gedächtnis : Schrift, Erinnerung und politische Identität in frühen Hochkulturen. München: C H Beck.

Nora, Pierre. 1989. Between Memory and History: Les Lieux de Mémoire. Representations. 26: 7-24.

Lowenthal, David. 1998. The heritage crusade and the spoils of history. Cambridge: Cambridge UP.

Boym, Svetlana. 2001. The Future of Nostalgia. New York: Basic Books.