PhD project

Grammatical simulation of memory processes

Various transformation processes are available for the transformation of memories into the medium 'literature'. Thus, memories often first go through the process of literarization before they are anchored in writing. However, to increase the authenticity of their texts, some authors map the memory process iconically on the linearity of sentences. 

According to the cognitive psychology cueing model, memory processes are initially triggered by a key stimulus, e.g., in the form of an image or smell. This process can be mapped onto literary texts by using certain grammatical techniques to simulate it. The grammatical techniques used for this purpose have in common that they are not integrative but aggregative. They include appositions and sentence boundary structures.

Moreover, the iconicity between memory patterns according to the cueing model and grammatical structures can be found in the context of literary studies as 'critical montage technique'. This refers to the author's chosen approach of making the text deconstructivist rather than aesthetic and harmonious.

The aim of the dissertation is to empirically demonstrate the contribution of grammatical structures to the construction of the meaning of the text in texts from German-language memoir literature, especially father literature, after 1945.

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