Read: Paul Connerton, How Societies Remember, pages 1-40.
Select one of the options below for a writing response.
1. Chose a sentence or paragraph from the Connerton reading for today that you feel is at the heart of his chapter and in some way expresses a major point central to his topic. Engage with Connerton's thesis through this citation in any way you choose.
2. Try the
Halbwachs experiment suggested by Connerton on page 36 and write about
it. Track the number of memories that you recall or that are invoked for
you in the course of a day (or a few hours) by direct or indirect
relations with other people. What conclusions might you draw? Does your
experience substantiate what Connerton, through Halbwachs, suggests?
3. Think of something or some event in the past you'd like to commemorate. If you were to design a ritual to remember that thing or event, what would it be? Now think about writing a play or staging a performance to commemorate that thing or event. Would it be different from the ritual? In what way? Now think of making a performance designed to forget, or put to rest, that thing or event from the past. How would you make a piece designed to try and forget something? After you have conducted this thought experiment, write a response paper taking up some aspect of what you thought about -- what interested you most.
Graduate Students: Over this week also read Joseph Roach, Cities of the Dead, a book greatly informed by Connerton, and continue following leads begun in the first week and crafting your bibliography.
Select one of the options below for a writing response.
1. Chose a sentence or paragraph from the Connerton reading for today that you feel is at the heart of his chapter and in some way expresses a major point central to his topic. Engage with Connerton's thesis through this citation in any way you choose.
2. Try the
Halbwachs experiment suggested by Connerton on page 36 and write about
it. Track the number of memories that you recall or that are invoked for
you in the course of a day (or a few hours) by direct or indirect
relations with other people. What conclusions might you draw? Does your
experience substantiate what Connerton, through Halbwachs, suggests?3. Think of something or some event in the past you'd like to commemorate. If you were to design a ritual to remember that thing or event, what would it be? Now think about writing a play or staging a performance to commemorate that thing or event. Would it be different from the ritual? In what way? Now think of making a performance designed to forget, or put to rest, that thing or event from the past. How would you make a piece designed to try and forget something? After you have conducted this thought experiment, write a response paper taking up some aspect of what you thought about -- what interested you most.
Graduate Students: Over this week also read Joseph Roach, Cities of the Dead, a book greatly informed by Connerton, and continue following leads begun in the first week and crafting your bibliography.
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