Patterns of Memory (Lapses) and Surges of Nostalgia in American Culture

Authors

  • Michael Kammen Cornell University

Keywords:

sites of memory, nostalgia, memory repression, phasing, fusion, civic religion

Abstract

This essay is a survey of types and sites of memory related to the last two centuries of American history and culture. Distinctions between artificial and authentic sites, genuine and false nostalgia, or illustrations of political commemoration and personal remembrance are used to show the uses and abuses of the past into the present.

Author Biography

Michael Kammen, Cornell University

Professor Emeritus

Published

2008-11-09

Issue

Section

PHILOLOGY AND CULTURAL STUDIES