Czech Written Literature as a Medium of Memory [and Oblivion] of Hlučín Region

Abstract

The following paper is based on the concept of literature and mediality of memory (Astrid Erll) which deals with the function of literary texts in creating and maintaining collective memory. Using these methodological incentives, it focuses on the determination and characterization of ways in which Czech literary works co-create and preserve the memory of the 20th century Hlučín Region, as well as, vice versa, the ways involved in suppressing some layers of memory and oblivion. The area described is selected, inter alia, because of its discontinuous and multi-layered memory influenced by geopolitical changes in Central Europe. The study thus provides a more detailed view of how artistic literature, as a medium of collective memory, can function within the phenomena of the so-called abused memory and memory work (Paul Ricoeur).