Entangled Memory: Toward a Third Wave in Memory Studies

Abstract

1grEgOr FEINDt, FÉlIX KraWatZEK, DaNIEla MEhlEr, FrIEDEMaNN PEStEl, aND rIEKE trIMÇEv aBStraCt this essay takes up the call for a "third phase" in memory studies and makes theoretical and methodological suggestions for its further development. Starting from an understanding of memory that centers on memory's temporality, its relation to language, and its quality as a social action, the essay puts forward the concept of "entangled memory." On a theoretical level, it brings to the fore the entangledness of acts of remembering. In a synchronic perspective, memory's entangledness is presented as twofold. Every act of remembering inscribes an individual in multiple social frames. this polyphony entails the simultaneous existence of concurrent interpretations of the past. In a diachronic perspective, memory is entangled in the dynamic relation between single acts of remembering and changing mnemonic patterns. Memory scholars therefore uncover boundless crossreferential configurations. Wishing to enhance the dialogue between the theoretical and the empirical parts of memory studies, we propose four devices that serve as a heuristic in the study of memory's entanglement: chronology against time, conflict, generations, and self-reflexivity. Current debates on European memory permit us to explore the possible benefits that the concept of entangled memory carries for memory studies.

How Generations Remember

“…The way that meaning is attributed to past experiences is likely to change during one's lifetime due to changes in historicopolitical contexts, new autobiographical experiences and the fact that one is moving forwards in the life cycle (Rosenthal 2006). The dimension of temporal transformation and new interpretations of the past in new presents has generally been little explored and calls for closer investigation, not least through the focus on generation (Feindt et al 2014).…”

Between Science, Art, and Forgery: Latin Textual Criticism as a Case Example

“…Research on memory has already entered the phase where textbooks, scripts and monographs aggregating the current state of knowledge are written. Several of these most recent publications offer a sound overview of the current state of memory studies:Erll, Nünning, 2010;Gudehus, Eichenberg, Welzer, 2010;Erll, 2011;Feindt, Krawatzek, Mehler, Pestel, Trimçev, 2014. …”

Para além de um prefácio: ditadura e democracia no diálogo entre Antonio Candido e Sérgio Buarque de Holanda

“…Em alguma medida, este artigo pode ser considerado um esforço de biografia intelectual cruzada, pois incorpora os pressupostos autorreflexivos da histoire croisée (Werner;Zimmermann, 2006, p.31-33), ao mesmo tempo que se aproveita de um adensamento na reflexão sobre a memória. Um bom exemplo a respeito disso é Gregor Feindt (2014), que propõe a análise da memória por meio de uma inversão na relação entre presente e passado, "a reconstrução do significante mnemônico clama por traçar as interpretações mnemônicas subsequentes no tempo", assim podemos explicar melhor por que algumas interpretações tornaram-se predominantes em detrimento de outras, bem como "interpretações posteriores reapropriam anteriores novamente" (Feindt, 2014, p.36, trad. nossa).…”