TY - JOUR
T1 - Rewriting, a Literary Concept for the Study of Cultural Memory: Towards a Transhistorical Approach to Cultural Remembrance
AU - Rose, H.G.E.
AU - Plate, L.
PY - 2013
Y1 - 2013
N2 - This article explores rewriting as a concept for cultural memory studies,
examining the transformation of the technology of ‘‘writing again’’ in different
historical periods. Its aim is to elucidate in what ways rewriting functions as an act
of remembrance, and how this function differs in the manuscript age, the age of
print and the digital age. The article discusses differences and similarities in the
stability or fluidity of texts as a medium for memory, presenting rewriting as a
helpful tool to see through presumed distinctions between these periods and their
characteristic methods of text transmission. In particular, the article presents findings with respect to its utility to a broad range of historical source evidence, from
the early medieval literature on saints’ lives to contemporary post-colonial and
feminist literature. In this article, rewriting is recognized as a transformative technology of memory, carrying and transmitting memories but not without change and adaptation. Dealing explicitly with the variety and the diversity of the media that
transmit cultural memory in the different historical periods, including visual media,
the article shows rewriting to be a productive concept for understanding cultural
memory as an act of transfer.
AB - This article explores rewriting as a concept for cultural memory studies,
examining the transformation of the technology of ‘‘writing again’’ in different
historical periods. Its aim is to elucidate in what ways rewriting functions as an act
of remembrance, and how this function differs in the manuscript age, the age of
print and the digital age. The article discusses differences and similarities in the
stability or fluidity of texts as a medium for memory, presenting rewriting as a
helpful tool to see through presumed distinctions between these periods and their
characteristic methods of text transmission. In particular, the article presents findings with respect to its utility to a broad range of historical source evidence, from
the early medieval literature on saints’ lives to contemporary post-colonial and
feminist literature. In this article, rewriting is recognized as a transformative technology of memory, carrying and transmitting memories but not without change and adaptation. Dealing explicitly with the variety and the diversity of the media that
transmit cultural memory in the different historical periods, including visual media,
the article shows rewriting to be a productive concept for understanding cultural
memory as an act of transfer.
U2 - 10.1007/s11061-013-9363-3
DO - 10.1007/s11061-013-9363-3
M3 - Article
SN - 0028-2677
VL - 97
SP - 611
EP - 625
JO - Neophilologus
JF - Neophilologus
ER -