Memory and Political Change

by Aleida Assmann (Contributor)

While political systems may change comparatively quickly, the social and cultural processes of adaptation and transformation take considerably longer. This volume explores memory as both a medium of and an impediment to change, offering an inroad into the problems, mechanisms and patterns involved in the complex processes that accompany the transition from authoritarian to democratic structures. Written by authors from different cultural and disciplinary backgrounds, the essays chart the terrain and supply well-documented case studies to extend knowledge on the relationship between social and political memory and the transition process.

Genres: History

223 pages, Hardcover

First published November 8, 2011

About the author

Aleida Assmann is a Professor of English Literature and Literary Theory in the Department of Literature, Art and Media at the University of Konstanz in Germany. She has also been a guest lecturer at universities including Rice, Princeton, Yale, and the University of Chicago. She is the author of several German-language books and has received international recognition for her scholarship, including the Max-Planck-Research Prize for History and Memory in 2009 and an Honorary Doctorate from the Theological Faculty at the University of Oslo in 2008.