American Memories: Film, Literature, Theory 4219-RS255
The course illustrates the importance of memory and memories for defining who we are and, more specifically, how we think about the US. First, the course presents an overview of “memory” as a concept for cultural studies, with readings by Jan Assman, Pierre Nora, Astrid Errl, Marianne Hirsch, Michael Rothberg, Stef Craps, among others. Then, specifically within the American context, it covers various media, activities, institutions, and objects that are key in transmitting memory: monuments, museums, oral history interviews, film, memoir, graphic novel. Thematically, discussing American memory will include focusing on the legacy of slavery, migration, WWII and the Holocaust, Cold War, struggle for gender equality and LGBTQI rights.
The course will include a visit by a guest speaker and a visit to the POLIN museum.
List of topics:
- What is memory?
- What is ”American” in American memory?
- Discussing American monuments
- Tourism and memory
- Americanization of the Holocaust
- Remembering natural catastrophes
- Living memory and oral history
- Family memories
- Transnational memory
- Memory in the digital age
Type of course
proseminars
Learning outcomes
The student knows and understands:
- products of American culture concerning memory and memories and their characteristic historical, social, and political contexts as well as the related manifestations and processes characteristic of contemporary cultural and social life in the United States
- the main trends and products of American literature in the field of memory and memories, as well as the basics of their literary analysis
The student is able to:
- identify, understand, interpret, explain, and analyze the cultural processes related to memory in the United States using sources and standard research methods and tools in the humanities
- use their theoretical knowledge to describe and analyze cultural processes and phenomena related to memory in the United States
- interpret works of American literature on memory and memories in the context of broadly understood American culture
- plan, write and edit a research essay within memory studies
The student is ready to:
- critically perceive media content related to memory in the United States
- use the acquired knowledge in the field of memory studies in the United States to form one's own opinions, and recognize its importance in solving cognitive and practical problems
Assessment criteria
In-class activities - 20%
4 reader responses - 20%
Abstract and outline - 20%
Essay writing and editing - 40%
Bibliography
Errl, Astrid. Memory in Culture. Translated by Sara B. Young. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 2011 (excerpts).
Olick, Jeffrey K., Vered Vinitzky-Seroussi, Daniel Levy. The Collective Memory Reader. Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press, 2011 (excerpts).
Rothberg, Michael. Multidirectional Memory: Remembering the Holocaust in the Age of Decolonization. Stanford: Stanford University Press, 2009 (excerpts).
Levitt, Laura. Objects that Remain. University Park: Penn State UP, 2020 (excerpts).
A selection of memoirs and graphic memoirs, video interviews, films and TV series
Additional information
Additional information (registration calendar, class conductors, localization and schedules of classes), might be available in the USOSweb system: