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The Representation of Memory in Recent Fiction in English

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The Representation of Memory in Recent Fiction in English The representation of memory in recent fiction in English Masterarbeit Zur Erlangung des akademischen Grades Master of Arts (MA) An der Karl-Franzens Universität Graz vorgelegt von Anja TROMPLER am Institut für Anglistik Begutachter Werner Wolf, O.Univ.-Prof. Mag.art. Dr.phil. Graz, 2013 Table of contents: 1. Introduction............................................................................................................................4 2. Theoretical Approaches to Memory ......................................................................................6 2.1. The relevance of memory for literary studies..........................................................6 2.2. A survey of modern memory theories ...................................................................17 2.2.1. The reconsolidation theory of (long-term) memory................................21 2.2.2. The theory of memory distortion.............................................................24 2.2.3. The relation between language and memory...........................................25 3. Major Forms of Memory.......................................................................................................28 3.1. Functional and storage memory.............................................................................28 3.2. Cultural memory....................................................................................................33 3.2.1. ‘Individual’ and ‘collective memory’.....................................................34 3.2.2. ‘Communicative’ and ‘cultural memory’...............................................36 3.3. Traumatic memory.................................................................................................38 3.4. Summary................................................................................................................40 4. John Banville’s Birchwood: Memory as a Source of Distortion..........................................41 4.1. Introduction to Birchwood.....................................................................................41 4.2. The workings of memory in Birchwood: general remarks.....................................44 4.3. Memory as controlled recollection of the past versus memory as involuntary chaos...................................................................................................50 4.4. The unreliability of the narrator in Birchwood.......................................................53 5. Ron Butlin’s The Sound of my Voice: Trauma and Identity................................................56 5.1. Introduction to The Sound of My Voice..................................................................56 5.2. The Sound of My Voice as a trauma narrative........................................................58 5.3. Memory and identity in The Sound of My Voice ...................................................62 2 6. Janice Galloway’s The Trick is to Keep Breathing: Traumatic Memory..............................65 6.1. Introduction to The Trick is to Keep Breathing......................................................65 6.2. A deconstructive and a reconstructive reading of The Trick is to Keep Breathing as two possibilities................................................66 6.3. Typographic manifestations of trauma in The Trick is to Keep Breathing............69 7. Julian Barnes’s The Sense of an Ending: Memory Re-evaluated.........................................76 7.1. Intoduction to The Sense of an Ending...................................................................76 7.2. The interplay between time, history, and memory in The Sense of an Ending......79 7.3. The unreliability of the narrator in The Sense of an Ending..................................83 8. Conclusion............................................................................................................................87 9. Bibliography.........................................................................................................................89 Abbreviations: BW= Birchwood SV= The Sound of my Voice TT= The Trick is to Keep Breathing SE= The Sense of an Ending 3 1. Introduction The act of recollection has increasingly become a matter of interdisciplinary research in the recent past. A plethora of approaches and theories on memory have been put forward, all of which contribute to gaining a deeper understanding of the workings of recollection and the role of memory within society. The reason why the act of remembering has become subject to interdisciplinary debate is the fact that the understanding of memory has undergone a number of crucial changes. While remembering used to be seen as an art form known as mnemotechnics in classical antiquity, the understanding of memory has shifted towards being closely linked to identity since the publication of John Locke’s Essay Concerning Human Understanding (1689). Nowadays awareness has been raised that the role of memory is primarily an existential question in that it is debatable to what extent identity is shaped by memory. It is undoubtedly the case, though, that the act of remembering has become a decisive component in defining individual as well as collective identity in today’s society. Especially formative events such as World War II and 9/11 have, on the one hand, led to the establishment of a culture of memory that is concerned with coming to terms with the past and, on the other hand, elicited a body of contemporary work on traumatic memory that demonstrates the problem of being unable to forget. In addition to the effect of memory on the individual and society, a popular contemporary field of interest are the cognitive processes involved in remembering because recent research has revealed that an authentic reproduction of events in the past is impossible. Instead, memory can be understood as a productive process which inevitably involves a certain degree of distortion. Similar to other academic disciplines, literary approaches to the topic have undergone numerous changes and developments, which manifest themselves in the form of, for instance, different narrative techniques and literary devices used to represent memory. Taking these developments into account, the purpose of this thesis is not only to contribute to illuminating the contemporary frame of mind with respect to the understanding of memory in literary and cultural studies, but also to provide insight into distinct approaches to the topic within contemporary literature. Due to the vast body of literature available nowadays, however, a selection of significant works that conduce to gaining insight into current literary approaches to the topic is essential. Therefore, four novels by Irish, Scottish and English authors have been selected, namely John Banville’s Birchwood (1973), Ron Butlin’s The Sound of my Voice (1987), Janice Galloway’s The Trick is to Keep Breathing (1989), and Julian Barnes’s The Sense of an 4 Ending (2011), all of which make a unique contribution to the understanding of memory. Not only do they make use of a variety of narrative techniques to highlight the unreliability of memory, but they also raise essential questions concerning the relationship between personal identity and memory as well as trauma and memory. In addition, a number of other parallels can be drawn between the novels in questions. First of all, the books primarily address individual rather than cultural memory, demonstrating the complex cognitive processes involved in the act of recollection as well as the connection between personal identity and memory. Second of all, the relation between language and recollection plays a crucial role in that each of the novels explores the limits of language and the text as media to represent memory. Finally, the use of unreliable narration not only blurs the boundaries between reality and imagination, but it also involves the reader in the process of constructing the narrative to a certain extent. In order to get a better understanding of contemporary literary approaches to memory, it is useful to provide an overview of significant developments with respect to the representation of memory within literary history. While this will be the focus of the first chapter, the second part of the theoretical analysis will contain an outline of current theories on the cognitive processes involved in the act of remembering as well as an introduction to major forms of memory. These, in turn, serve as a means to elucidate the complexities involved in the act of recollection and may be useful in connection with an analysis of the narrative techniques utilised in the novels discussed. The second part of this thesis will be devoted to a literary analysis of the novels in chronological order, whereby each work of fiction will offer different representations of memory, though still using similar means to highlight the complex relations between identity, trauma, language and memory. 5 2. Theoretical Approaches to Memory In order to be able to analyse the representation of memory in various literary works, it is, first of all, useful to clarify the meaning of the term ‘memory’ because some languages have a somewhat different understanding of the concept. The term ‘memory’ appears to have a broader function in the English language than in German. The German language distinguishes between two separate concepts of memory, namely Gedächtnis and Erinnerung. While the former is closely related to knowledge, the latter can be thought of as individual experience.
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