Norwegian version of this page

Cultural Memory Studies

How are memories transferred between cultures, and how are cultural memories important to understand identity? 

Lush, green trees next to the University Library. A person is seated on a stone fence in the middle of the photo.

Cultural memories provide a framework for belonging and understanding.

Photo: Jarli & Jordan

About the group

Cultural memories consist of a society or group's collective references to the past and provide a framework for belonging and understanding.

The research group gathers scholars from different disciplines working on a wide range of topics related to cultural memory. We examine cultural memory from different perspectives and within different language areas and genres.

We study:

  • Memories from different traumatic conflict situations – as represented in testimonies, in narratives from later generations and in fictional texts.
  • Transnational memory, the way memory narratives are transmitted between cultures. 
  • The importance of cultural memory for different understandings of identity, such as national identity, religious identity, gender identity.
  • The relation between oblivion and remembrance.

Activities

  • June 24, 2022: Panel on EST22 (10th EST Congress: Advancing Translation Studies), University of Oslo/OsloMet: “Translation and transcultural circulation of memory narratives” (program session 1, program session 2)
  • September 20-21, 2022: Workshop “Approaching Distant Memory”, University of Oslo (program)
  • September 18-19, 2023: Workshop “Still Approaching Distant Memory”, Ghent University (program)
  • October 31, 2023, 12.15–14: Reading group, GM, undervisningsrom 215. Text: McCarroll & Kirby (2023): “The repair shop of memory”

PhD-projects

The group welcomes PhD-projects that are set within a cultural memory studies-approach, and linked to our areas and research interests. Prospective PhD-candidates will need to identify the relevant area of their project proposal. The research group’s host department, ILOS, announces PhD fellowships once a year.

Published Nov. 23, 2021 9:40 AM - Last modified Nov. 22, 2023 3:01 PM

Contact

Head of group

Geir Uvsløkk

Participants

Detailed list of participants