996006 Memory & Gender (Theory Class) (S) (WiSe 2021/2022)

How does the gendered dimension of cultural memory impact our understanding of the past, present and future?

As forms and practices of cultural memory have fundamental effects on the distribution of power and agency in societies, the aim of the course is to examine both theoretical approaches to and empirical research on cultural memory and its gendered dimensions. Forming narratives about the past allows for (de-)legitimizing the interpretations of the present and the future. Particularly collective memory is highly politicized as it serves the 'self'-interpretations of societies (as nations, states) by defining their boundaries, the mechanisms of social in-/exclusions and power relations through the (culturally formed) past.

At the same time, the mechanisms of memory are deeply gendered. History as an academic discipline e.g. has for a long time excluded women as historians as well as historical agents. Since the 1970s women activists and students aimed at making 'herstories' visible, including female voices about the past. Surprisingly enough, despite of the "memory boom" in the 1990s, and while a critical discussion of global, multidirectional, and post-colonial memories is on the rise, gender as an analytical category and a dimension of the social historical contexts is still often overlooked. To what extent can we talk about reciprocity between testimony and memory culture(s)? What role do experiences and memories of men an women play for memory culture? How do concepts of masculinity and femininity function in memory cultures?

The empirical examples discussed and critically examined during the course are mainly from 19th to 21st century Europe. The powerful interplay between memory and gender will be critically examined starting from the basic theoretical reconsideration of the question: How can we study memory? We will continue to approach micro and macro-levels of memory and observe how the individual and social memories are related to each other. We will also adress the processes of nationalisation of memory, get into the field of the politics of memory culture in museums and schools, and discuss aspects of intersectionality and globalization of memory. One important aspect will be media and materiality of memory.

The course will start with an introductory session on Friday 12 November 2021, 10-12 a.m., where the participant’s presentations and responsibilites will be organized. The main activities of the course will be carried out on Friday 3 December and Saturday 4 December 2021. Participating doctoral students will present and discuss their readings on prepared topics and will tie the analytical perspective on memory and gender to their own dissertation project. By doing so we will reflect on our position and framing of memory and gender.

Bibliography

Preparatory reading:

Assmann, Aleida, Re-framing memory. Between individual and collective forms of constructing the past“, in: Karin Tilmans, Frank van Vree, Jay Winter (eds.): Performing the Past. Memory, History, and Identity in Mmodern Europae. Amsterdam: University Press 2010, 35-50.

Dahl, Izabela /Malin Thor, Oral history, constructions and deconstructions of narratives: intersections of class, gender, locality, nation and religion in narratives from a Jewish woman in Sweden, in: ENQUIRE, Issue 3, 2009, p. 1–24.

Törnquist-Plewa, Barbara, Local Memories under the Influence of Europeanization and Globalization. Comparative Remarks and Conclusions, in: Barbara Törnquist-Plewa (ed.), Whose Memory? Which Future? Remembering Ethnic Cleansing and Lost Cultural Diversity in Eastern, Central and Southeastern Europe, edited by Barbara Törnquist-Plewa, Berghahn Books, Incorporated, 2016.