Three 海角社区 faculty members discuss memory through the use of literature
Published: March 29, 2010.
Three Lewis faculty members from the English department discussed consciousness, one important dimension of memory, through literary works as part of the 海角社区 Art of Memory series.
Dr. Michael Cunningham, professor of English and director of Arts and Ideas, explained that one of the features of high literary modernism is the writer抯 attention to the inner life of characters. As Cunningham mentioned, certain novels describe the nature and function of memory, including its triggers, a person抯 control over it as well as its power to either liberate or imprison. Cunningham asked his audience to examine how writers use language and literary devices to represent consciousness.
Dr. Wallace Ross, assistant professor of English, illustrated how 搘illed� memory is present in 揚ortrait of the Artist as a Young Man� and other James Joyce fiction. He also focused on the unconscious, taking a look at the work of psychologists Sigmund Freud and Carl Jung. Dr. Nancy Workman, professor of English, used Virginia Woolf抯, 揗rs. Dalloway� to demonstrate the effect of memory on individuals. For Woolf, memory is often imprisoning. Likewise, Dr. Cunningham抯 thorough character analysis of William Faulkner抯, 揟he Sound and the Fury� suggests that memory is a trap that leads to self-annihilation.
The Art of Memory series is presented by the 海角社区 History Center: Urban, Cultural and Catholic History of the Upper Midwest, which supports a biannual symposium. It is also a part of 海角社区抯 Arts & Ideas Program, providing cultural and educational programming for students and the community. These events are free of charge and open to the public. For further information, please contact Dr. Ewa Bacon at (815) 836-5568.
A Catholic university sponsored by the De La Salle Christian Brothers, Lewis offers nearly 80 undergraduate majors and programs of study, accelerated degree completion options for working adults, various aviation programs and 22 graduate programs in nine fields. The ninth largest private, not-for-profit university in Illinois is being honored for the sixth consecutive year by The Princeton Review and U.S. News & World Report.
