Culture, Memory, and Literature: In Search of an Interdisciplinary Relationship Between Cultural and Literary Studies

문화, 회상 그리고 문학: 문화학과 문예학의 학제적 연관성에 관한 모색″

In the past few years, a trend has emerged emphasizing the interdisciplinary relationship between cultural and literary studies, and "memory" has been suggested as the central theme in this trend. According to Aleida and Jan Assmann, "memory" as collective memory (not individual recollection) has various functions and forms, of which communicative memory and cultural memory occupy opposite poles of a central axis. Whereas communicative memory relates to the living past shared among contemporaries, cultural memory relates to "recollected history" rather than factual history. Cultural memory finds transmission through symbolic media such as myths, festivities, and literary works. Literary works preserve critical and living memories as opposed to forgotten memories. In other words, literature should be better read as "criticism and memory" than "imitation and preservation." Works of literature are characterized by a turning away from repetition toward representation-the process of "making present" of what is past.