Professor Aleida Assmann in conversation with Dr Gesa Schneider about "the reinvention of the nation"
Tuesday, 26. October 2021, 19:00 – 20:00 h
At Literaturhaus Zurich, Limmatquai 62, 8001 Zürich
In her book “The Reinvention of the Nation. Why We Fear It and Why We Need It” (C. H. Beck 2020), the winner of the Peace Prize of the German Book Trade and renowned cultural scientist Aleida Assmann examines the narratives societies use to define their past, future, and identity. She approaches the controversial concept in a nuanced way and with great care.
The literature and cultural studies scholar Aleida Assmann (*1947) is professor (emerita) of English and general literature at the University of Konstanz. In addition to numerous works on English literature and the archaeology of literary communication, she is particularly concerned with the theme of memory and forgetting. Together with her husband, the Egyptologist Jan Assmann, she coined the term cultural memory. In 2018, Aleida and Jan Assmann were awarded the Peace Prize of the German Book Trade.