Critics argue that contemporary western societies are immersed in a "culture of memory," devoting resources to national histories and heritage, commemoration, public re-enactments, etc. We use these recollections of our national past to maintain a collective identity in the present, among other uses. These essays, edited by Cynthia Sugars and Eleanor Ty, explore how Canadian literature draws on aspects of cultural memory, past and future.
Exploring memory as a "vector of signification" involves a wide range of topics such concepts of as heritage, antiquity, nostalgia, elegy, ancestry,...