LITC0025: Memory and Literature in a Globalised Culture

Memory is increasingly being recognised as fundamental to the formation of individual and collective identities. In Greek mythology Memory, or Mnemosyne, is the mother of the muses, the founding inspiration for the arts and crafts. Particularly in literature, memory is important because it both refers to the content of literature and to its creative process. Through telling and writing, literature binds memory and individual identity together, and it does so in the medium - language - in which we also reflect on culture, identity and memory. This module aims to investigate the role of memory in an age of globalisation powered by new communication technologies with examples drawn from literature, photography, film and digital media. Central questions to be investigated are: how are our memories shaped by cultural and aesthetic expressions, in which ways does globalisation challenge the content and function of collective memory, how do new media co-operate with literature in shaping memories and identities and what is the role of traumatic memories in contemporary literature and other cultural expressions that deal with the global climate crisis?