Writing and Memory: An Examination of Literary Phenomena in the Han through Six Dynasties Eras

This thesis, Writing and Memory: An Examination of Literary Phenomena in the Han through Six Dynasties Eras, is based on central themes in Stephen Owen’s Remembrances: The Experience of the Past in Classical Chinese Literature, and cites research on memory from a variety of fields of study. The thesis will examine the relationship between writing and memory, and the way in which both writing and memory connect to the creation of literary paradigms in Six Dynasties literature. The first chapter, or “Introduction,” will lay a foundation by looking at research on functional memory, ritual memory, collective memory, and other types of memory. It will consider the perspectives on memory offered by biology, psychology, sociology, history, and philosophy, as well as the literary research Stephen Owen has pursued on memory. The second chapter, “Historical Memory and Cultural Identification” starts from the functionality of memory, exploring the way in which the content of memory is put into writing, as well as the construction of paradigmatic literary forms and writing techniques. By looking at memory arising from the body, ritual memory, and traumatic memory, the third chapter, “Bodily Movement and Spatial Imagination,” will focus on the example of “deng lin huai gu” [ascent and encounter with evoked and evocative memories of the past]. Discussion will focus on the way in which deng lin huai gu became a literary paradigm and the process by which the ordered sequence of “ascending to a high vantage point; seeing an object (evocative of the past); and experiencing a flood of emotion” became a paradigmatic compositional structure. Chapter Four, “Resisting the Loss of Memory and the Construction of Meaning” discusses the internal elements and emotions operating in construction of paradigms, with focus on the special character of memory. The chapter will look at the imagery of
Xianshan Mountain as an example of how writing acts to extend memory and combat its loss. In addition to the function of memory as an object of scholarly inquiry, memory can also constitute a method of discourse. After focusing on the dynamic process of construction of paradigms and discussing the connection between literary paradigms, memory, and writing, the thesis ultimately reveals how in collective memory, literary paradigms are constructed by synchronous action between writing and memory: writing shapes memory; and memory participates in the writing process.