Memory, Trauma, and History

This impressive set of essays show us the trajectory of an intellectual historian who began his career concerned with the theoretical rejection of historical meaning, moved to a consideration of the cultural practices of memory and forgetting, and then to a broad and nuanced consideration of trauma and the challenges it poses to historiography. If these essays begin with his former reflections on why historical meaning is denied, they move through a recognition of how and why searing loss makes historical meaning so difficult. Over and against a skeptical or nihilistic position, Michael S. Roth continues to clarify the values of the historical archive, visual art, and a liberal education. We witness the formidable development of a scholar whose most contemporary vocation is the passionate and persuasive defense of a liberal arts education. To read the entire book is to be reminded why we so badly need thoughtful, courageous, and broad-ranging educator-intellectuals like Roth-and that they are so rare. -- Judith Butler, University of California at Berkeley

In these essays, Michael S. Roth uses psychoanalysis to build a richer understanding of history, and then takes a more expansive conception of history to decode the cultural construction of memory. He first examines the development in nineteenth-century France of medical criteria for diagnosing memory disorders, which signal fundamental changes in the understanding of present and past. He next explores links between historical consciousness and issues relating to the psyche, including trauma and repression and hypnosis and therapy. Roth turns to the work of postmodern theorists in connection with the philosophy of history and then examines photography's capacity to capture traces of the past. He considers how we strive to be faithful to the past even when we don't care about getting it right or using it productively. Roth concludes with essays defending pragmatic and reflexive liberal education. Drawing on his experiences as a teacher and academic leader, he speaks of living with the past without being dominated by it.