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Lookup NU author(s): Laura Bowie
This article explores the current popularity of memory studies in academia, by looking specifically at the basis of the methodology by critically analysing key theorists such as Maurice Halbwachs and his theory of collective memory and Pierre Nora’s Sites of Memory. These theories are then applied specifically to the portrayal of the Rote Armee Fraktion (RAF) in the art of Gerhard Richer, the films of von Trotta, Schlöndorff and Edel as well as the literature of Heinrich Böll. After the trial and (contested) suicide of the core members of the gang, this period holds a particular significance in the memory of the Left in Germany. At the time, as well as in recent decades, many films and novels have been created in order to contextualise the events and to ratify the conflict between supporting the ideology of the group, whilst condoning their terrorist methods. Gerhard Richter painted and exhibited October 18, 1977 in Berlin during 1988-89, which questioned the portrayal of the RAF in the media as well as the issues of nostalgia, memory and cultural manipulation of historical events. This paper discusses theories of memory and their manifestation in works of art as well as evaluating the use of a methodology of memory studies for critical analysis of particular events in history.
Author(s): Bowie L
Publication type: Article
Publication status: Published
Journal: eSharp
Year: 2013
Issue: 20: New Horizons
Pages: 1-18
Print publication date: 01/06/2013
Date deposited: 04/06/2013
ISSN (electronic): 1742-4542
Publisher: Glasgow University
URL: http://www.gla.ac.uk/research/az/esharp/issues/20spring2013-newhorizons/
