Katarzyna Lukas

Language – memory – architecture. Metonymic presence and metaphorical meaning in the novel Austerlitz by W.G. Sebald (2001)

By the example of the novel Austerlitz by W.G. Sebald, the present paper shows how architecture can inspire literature, being not only a subject of but also a structural model for literary texts. In Sebald’s literary depictions, topography, interiors, buildings and their plans play the role of memory metaphors – following the tradition to conceive of human memory as a spatial concept. The same buildings and architectural structures, presented on photographs combined with the verbal text, become metonymies which re-present the past and the repressed trauma. A number of space metaphors used in Austerlitz are examined: concepts expressing the notion of the hermetic, of dislocation, estrangement, death of cultural memory, of the protagonist’s defence mechanism against trauma. Then, Sebald‘s depiction of language as a maze is considered in the context of the relationship between aphasia as language disorder and metonymy as a poetic means – an analogy going back to R.Jakobson. Finally, Sebald’s „metonymic interaction“ between language and pictures is examined, allowing the conclusion that metaphors of memory in Austerlitz have a rather traditional character, while the metonymies are innovative and have a great impact on the reader/spectator.

Translatio and Memory as Cultural Metaphors. Analogies, Touch Points, Interactions

The article discusses the interpretative and methodological potential inherent in the synergetic application of two categories paradigmatic for cultural studies and cultural literary theory: translatio and memory. It is argued that both categories, viewed as cultural metaphors and combined with each other, may serve as a complex model for the interpretation of cultural phenomena. The starting point for developing such a model is the insight that both concepts have undergone a similar semantic evolution in the discourse of cultural studies, and may now be represented as radial categories with a “prototypical centre” and metaphorical-metonymical extensions, translatio going far beyond interlingual “translation proper”. Next, some further contact zones between translatio and memory are outlined: firstly, their functional analogies, which are reflected in parallel metaphors depicting memory and translation (such as the “palimpsest” and the “devouring of the Other”). Secondly, the metaphor of the “dissemination of memes” is discussed as the most promising idea that brings together the discourse of translation studies with reflection on the mechanisms of collective memory, drawing attention to ethical and political aspects of both translatio and memory. The image of the “dissemination of memes” is also a point of departure for its derivative metaphors of “translation as memory transmission” and “memory as a space of translatio”. The conclusion is that the interactions between memory and translatio that engendered these metaphors could be put to use in comparative investigations. Finally, some representative research problems are formulated based on various configurations of literal and metaphorical meanings of both terms. It is emphasized that the coming together of divergent yet close pathways of translation and memory studies could be of mutual benefit to both fields of inquiry. 

The article discusses the interpretative and methodological potential inherent in the synergetic application of two categories paradigmatic for cultural studies and cultural literary theory: translatio and memory. It is argued that both categories, viewed as cultural metaphors and combined with each other, may serve as a complex model for the interpretation of cultural phenomena. The starting point for developing such a model is the insight that both concepts have undergone a similar semantic evolution in the discourse of cultural studies, and may now be represented as radial categories with a “prototypical centre” and metaphorical-metonymical extensions, translatio going far beyond interlingual “translation proper”. Next, some further contact zones between translatio and memory are outlined: firstly, their functional analogies, which are reflected in parallel metaphors depicting memory and translation (such as the “palimpsest” and the “devouring of the Other”). Secondly, the metaphor of the “dissemination of memes” is discussed as the most promising idea that brings together the discourse of translation studies with reflection on the mechanisms of collective memory, drawing attention to ethical and political aspects of both translatio and memory. The image of the “dissemination of memes” is also a point of departure for its derivative metaphors of “translation as memory transmission” and “memory as a space of translatio”. The conclusion is that the interactions between memory and translatio that engendered these metaphors could be put to use in comparative investigations. Finally, some representative research  problems are formulated based on various configurations of literal and metaphorical meanings of both terms. It is emphasized that the coming together of divergent yet close pathways of translation and memory studies could be of mutual benefit to both fields of inquiry.