Portable Monuments: Literature, Cultural Memory, and the Case of Jeanie Deans

Abstract

This article seeks to contribute to contemporary discussions on the workings of cultural memory and examines in particular the way in which literary texts can function as a social framework for memory. Through a detailed study of the genesis, composition, and long-term reception of Walter Scott's The Heart of Midlothian (1982 [1818]), I argue that literary texts play a variety of roles in the formation of cultural memory and that these roles are linked to their status as public discourse, to their fictional and poetical qualities, and to their longevity. This analysis of the multiple roles of literary texts in what I call ''memorial dynamics'' sheds light on the complex communicative processes by which images of the past are formed and transformed over time. It indicates the need to consider discontinuity as a feature of memorial dynamics and to recognize, for better or for worse, that fictionality and poeticity are an integral and not merely ''inauthentic'' feature of cultural memory.

Remembering World War I: Memory Influences and Impact on Intentions to Visit War Heritage Sites

“…Many have attempted to explain and interpret the origins of the war [18][19][20][21], the economics of the war [22,23]; how it reshaped history [24,25]; the material culture of WWI [26,27], women's role in WWI [28,29], as well the importance of how we connect the present and past through collective memory [30,31] and social memory [32][33][34][35][36][37]. Literature on the debate between history and memory in how we remember the past continues [38][39][40][41][42].…”

“…Often, the terms 'collective memory' and 'social memory' are used interchangeably. However, Rigney [41] suggests that 'cultural memory' is a more usable concept, because it "is better able to account for the variety of memorial forms and for the transformations of experience which all forms of remembrance entail'. She suggests there are slight distinctions between collective memory, social memory and cultural memory.…”

“…Internet. Unquestionably, cultural memory is always vicarious; it involves memories of other people's lives, from a different time and place; memories that have been mediated by text and images [41].…”

“…According to Rigney [41], they are portable monuments -not fixed in a particular site like stone monuments; they may be recycled among various groups of readers, far and wide, and in different historical periods. Rigney (41:368) contends, "…memories are dependent on their being recalled in various media by later generations who find them meaningful for the nonce [present time], who may even find it their duty to keep the alive…".…”

Novels, Histories, Novel Nations: Historical Fiction and Cultural Memory in Finland and Estonia

“…The possibilities of fictional history for enriching historical understanding and filling in for academic historical writing are widely recognised today (see Fay 2002: 1;Harlan 2005: 143;Salmi 2004: 151). Ann Rigney (2004) has noted that fictionally reworked and artistically designed representations may prove to be most influential in the formation of cultural memory. It may also be noted that during the nineteenth century the distinction between academic and fictional history writing was much more vague than it is today.…”