Cambridge University Press Cultural Memory and Western Civilization: Functions, Media, Archives

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. Review 'Aleida Assmann brings startling originality, brilliant explanation, and conceptual rigor to the difficult and sprawling terrain of memory. This is a classic, pathbreaking work to which readers will remain long indebted.' Peter Fritzsche, University of Illinois 'This is a pathbreaking study of a category that now is commonplace in both undergraduate and graduate studies in the humanities and social sciences. Until now, there has been nothing like it available in English. It is essential reading to understand why memory has displaced class, race, and gender as the signature category of our generation.' Jay Winter, Yale University 'An unsurpassed starting point for the understanding of the human as, in Nietzsche's words, an animal who remembers.' The Times Literary Supplement Book Description This book provides an introduction to the concept of cultural memory, offering a comprehensive overview of its history, forms and functions. About the Author 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.