東歐流放作家生命書寫中的記憶論述
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2011/08-2012/07
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本計畫以現居英美兩地之東歐流放作家（Eva Hoffman, Alta Ifland, Kapka Kassabova, Petru Popescu, Domnica Radulescu, Susan Suleiman and Anca Vlasopolos）為研究對象，藉由探討其生命書寫中之自傳性記憶以拓展近年新興的回憶與自傳文學研究視野。這些作品從個人觀點出發，見證了東歐在納粹主義與共產主義的接連統治下所帶來的災難性後果；闡述了領土瓜分、遲來的國家建設、及受脅迫的大規模遷移等事件所帶來的後遺症是如何影響東歐所發生的物質破壞與第二次世界大戰對心理層面所造成的巨大傷害與後果。除了呈現受害者因社會菁英、城市空間與族群間的崩壞而產生對時代分歧的記憶之外，文本中也描繪了對於報復與復仇的渴望。 研究將以當前東方(Etkind, Judt, Todorova, Scribner)與西方(Halbwachs, Nora, Lowenthal, Ricoeur, Connerton, Margalit)學者對於記憶議題之辯證為根基，探討東歐流放知識份子作品中關於「自傳性記憶」的多樣具體性表現，包含：1989年代後的流放作家回憶錄如何被收編至共產主義的公歷史中、東歐被瓜分的記憶與共產統治時期的重要歷史事件是如何被翻譯至英美國家、而這些作家在柏林圍牆倒塌後又是如何在英美國家中對這些翻譯進行共產主義的生產與消費。透過上述研究面向，本計畫期能透過這些共享文化生活腳本的自傳性文本，探討將自傳性記憶轉換為文化記憶或是Pierre Nora提出的「記憶場域」（lieux de memoir）之可能性。
My project focuses on autobiographical memory in life writing texts by Eastern European exiles residing in the US and the UK (Eva Hoffman, Alta Ifland, Kapka Kassabova, Petru Popescu, Domnica Radulescu, Susan Suleiman and Anca Vlasopolos) and it is meant as a contribution to the emerging fields of both memory and autobiography studies. I consider life writing by exiled writers of Eastern European origins a fertile ground for both memory and autobiography studies for a number of reasons. Their writings document, from a personal point of view, the consecutive rule of Nazism and Communism in the region and the catastrophic effects these regimes brought about. They illustrate how imperial legacies of territorial dismemberment, belated state-building, and massive forced migration led to the unique material devastation and disastrous psychological consequences of World War II. They record how the destruction of social elites, urban spaces, and ethnic groups caused divided memories of victimhood but also desire for vengeance and retribution. Anchoring myself in the current debates about memory, both east (Etkind, Judt, Todorova, Scribner) and west (Halbwachs, Nora, Lowenthal, Ricoeur, Connerton, Margalit), I attempt to foreground the multiple specificities of “autobiographical memory” as put forth by the above-mentioned exiled Eastern European writers. I consider the ways in which post-1989 exiles’ memoirs add to the archives and public history of communism. I discuss the processes of translating contested Eastern European memories and some landmark historical events during communism to the Anglo-American world. By focusing on the historical and cultural translation that these autobiographers undertake I explore the ways in which life writing by Eastern European exiles participates in both the production and consumption of communism in the Anglo-American world after the fall of the Berlin Wall. My project also attempts to demonstrate how these autobiographical texts, which reveal culturally shared life scripts, turn autobiographical memory into possible cultural memory or, employing Pierre Nora’s concept lieux de memoire, into sites of memory.
My project focuses on autobiographical memory in life writing texts by Eastern European exiles residing in the US and the UK (Eva Hoffman, Alta Ifland, Kapka Kassabova, Petru Popescu, Domnica Radulescu, Susan Suleiman and Anca Vlasopolos) and it is meant as a contribution to the emerging fields of both memory and autobiography studies. I consider life writing by exiled writers of Eastern European origins a fertile ground for both memory and autobiography studies for a number of reasons. Their writings document, from a personal point of view, the consecutive rule of Nazism and Communism in the region and the catastrophic effects these regimes brought about. They illustrate how imperial legacies of territorial dismemberment, belated state-building, and massive forced migration led to the unique material devastation and disastrous psychological consequences of World War II. They record how the destruction of social elites, urban spaces, and ethnic groups caused divided memories of victimhood but also desire for vengeance and retribution. Anchoring myself in the current debates about memory, both east (Etkind, Judt, Todorova, Scribner) and west (Halbwachs, Nora, Lowenthal, Ricoeur, Connerton, Margalit), I attempt to foreground the multiple specificities of “autobiographical memory” as put forth by the above-mentioned exiled Eastern European writers. I consider the ways in which post-1989 exiles’ memoirs add to the archives and public history of communism. I discuss the processes of translating contested Eastern European memories and some landmark historical events during communism to the Anglo-American world. By focusing on the historical and cultural translation that these autobiographers undertake I explore the ways in which life writing by Eastern European exiles participates in both the production and consumption of communism in the Anglo-American world after the fall of the Berlin Wall. My project also attempts to demonstrate how these autobiographical texts, which reveal culturally shared life scripts, turn autobiographical memory into possible cultural memory or, employing Pierre Nora’s concept lieux de memoire, into sites of memory.