Concepts of memory in contemporary literary studies

The present article offers an overview of the main concepts of memory in contemporary literary studies and attempts at their systematization, based on the critical analysis of the classification offered by the German scholars Astrid Erll and Ansgar Nünning. Three principle approaches to the study of memory are discussed: memory of literature as a symbolic system (intertextuality as memory of literature, memory of the literary genre, canon as institutionalized memory of literary studies), representations of memory in literature and literature as a medium of cultural memory. Memory Studies are presented as a rising new approach within Humanities, determined by the discussed acute problems, and its interdisciplinary character is emphasized.