Keynote Lecture

The lecture will address changing frames of temporality over the last 80 years. In this case Aleida Assmann will draw on her biographical experience and the evidence that she observed, registered and theorized in her own life-span. She will describe how the concept memory first evolved as a partner and then as a rival to the concept of history, and how these dynamics have affected historical work and thinking until today.

Speaker

Prof. Dr. Aleida Assmann is an English scholar, Egyptologist, and literary and cultural studies scholar. She has taught at Yale, Princeton, and Chicago, among other institutions. Together with her husband Jan Assmann, she coined the concept of “cultural memory.” In recognition of their outstanding research and social engagement, Jan and Aleida Assmann were awarded the Peace Prize –Friedenspreis–  of the German Book Trade in 2018.