The “literary memory” model of research based on comparative analysis: A presentation on cultural archeology
The “literary memory” model of research based on comparative analysis: A presentation on cultural archeology

Summary/Abstract: Drawing upon research on literary culture and memory, this article explores the transformational mechanisms of the canonization and worship of authors in the process of social mobility from 1840 to 1940. As a result of the joint endeavor of the comparatists Marijan Dović and Joep Leerssen, the analytical concept of “cultural saints” conceives of canonization as a movable network of textual and extra-textual discursive practices. The importance of the concept lies in its more precise differentiation between objective and subjective factors, which are instrumental in the preservation and reconstruction of the practice of artistic creations. Implementing an ethno-semantic analysis, Dović and Leerssen’s model supports the abstraction that the constitution of national identity through collective rituals and the formation of new ideas establishes a canonized set of rules, the “cultural grammar” of any society.

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