Abstract

Memory studies has become a rapidly growing area of scholarly as well as public interest. This volume brings together world experts to explore the current critical trends in this new academic field. It embraces work on diverse but interconnected phenomena, such as twenty-first century museums, shocking memorials in present-day Rwanda and the firsthand testimony of the victims of genocidal conflicts. The collection engages with pressing ‘real world’ issues, such as the furor around the recent 9/11 memorial, and what we really mean when we talk about ‘trauma’.

Antony Rowland is Professor of Literary Studies at the University of Salford.

Richard Crownshaw is a Lecturer in English at Goldsmiths, University of London. 

Jane Kilby is Senior Lecturer in English and Cultural Studies at the University of Salford.

“This volume of fourteen chapters provides a solid overview of important trends in the expanding field of memory studies. The chapters are wide-ranging in focus, as befits their authors’ diverse academic disciplines.”  ·  Journal of Interdisciplinary History

“This is an innovative, well structured and balanced collection of essays which presents a survey of theories and case studies underpinning the burgeoning field of memory studies. It addresses the ‘big issues’ including witnessing, trauma, memorials, the relation between personal and public memory, and generational transmission.”  ·  Peter Carrier, author of HOLOCAUST MONUMENTS AND NATIONAL MEMORY

“This is an excellent collection of essays.”  ·  Peter Lawson, Open University, London