The semantic field opened up by the term modernity describes a multifaceted body of experiences that are seen as somehow different from earlier, more traditional modes of experience. This modern “experience of space and time, of the self and others, of life’s possibilities and perils” seems to be marked by a sense of perpetual change brought about by the continuous and relentless application of techno-scientific knowledge (Berman 1983:2). The perpetually shifting paradigms of scientific knowledge and the social consequences of the application of techno-science to the subjugation of nature undermine any notion of stability and continuity. Pierre Nora’s use of the phrase “acce leration of history” to signify “an increasingly rapid slippage of the present into a historical past that is gone for good” crystallizes the general sense of uncertainty which is often seen as an integral part of modern experience (Nora 1989:7). In the following passage Nora introduces a distinction between memory and history:
On the hand, we find an integrated, dictatorial memory – unself-conscious, commanding, allpowerful, spontaneously actualizing, a memory without a past that ceaselessly reinvents tradition, linking the history of its ancestors to the undifferentiated time of heroes, origins, and myth – and on the other hand, our memory, nothing more in fact than sifted and sorted historical traces (Nora 1989:8) . In order to critique “how our hopelessly forgetful modern societies, propelled by change, organize the past” Nora juxtaposes an archaic, undifferentiated, mythical form of memory, which ties a community organically to its past with modern historiography, which produces simulacra of a memory that has been destroyed by modern history (Nora 1989:8). Max Horkheimer and Theodor Adorno locate the source of modernization and its vicissitudes in the enlightenment conception of knowledge as a tool to “conquer[] superstition, [and] to rule over a disenchanted nature (Horkheimer and Adorno 2002:2). By exorcizing myths the Enlightenment becomes – through a dialectical twist – its own myth.
Inhaltsverzeichnis (Table of Contents)
- Memory and Modernity in H.G. Wells’s The Time Machine
- Memory and History
- Modernization and the Enlightenment
- Modernism and the Critique of Modernity
- H.G. Wells’s The Time Machine: A Modernist Text
- Memory, Evolution, and Ethics
- The Significance of Memory for the Novella’s Critique of Modernity
Zielsetzung und Themenschwerpunkte (Objectives and Key Themes)
This essay explores the role of memory in H.G. Wells's The Time Machine, examining how the novella critiques modernity through the lens of historical and social evolution. The essay analyzes the complex interplay of memory and history, tracing their influence on the narrative's structure and thematic development.
- Memory and its role in shaping individual and collective identity
- The relationship between memory and historical consciousness
- The critique of modernity through the lens of social and technological evolution
- The juxtaposition of different forms of memory: mythical, historical, and personal
- The ethical implications of technological advancement and its impact on society
Zusammenfassung der Kapitel (Chapter Summaries)
The essay begins by establishing the context for the exploration of memory and modernity. It delves into the conceptual framework of "modernity" as a multifaceted experience marked by perpetual change and uncertainty. This section introduces Pierre Nora's distinction between memory and history, highlighting how modern historiography, driven by the Enlightenment's emphasis on rationality, has replaced a more integrated, mythical form of memory.
The essay then examines the role of the Enlightenment in shaping the modern world, focusing on its attempt to conquer superstition and rule over nature. The essay explores the dialectical nature of the Enlightenment, demonstrating how its attempt to dismantle myths inadvertently leads to the creation of its own mythology. This section highlights the inherent contradictions within the Enlightenment project.
The essay subsequently moves on to the concept of modernism as a critique of modernity itself. It explores the shared characteristics of nineteenth-century modernist texts, emphasizing their ironic and contradictory nature. The essay argues that H.G. Wells's The Time Machine is a modernist text, highlighting its critique of modernity through the lens of values created by modernity itself.
The essay then focuses on the significance of memory in The Time Machine, analyzing its role in structuring the novella's central conflict. It explores how memory functions as a bridge between the present and the future, bridging the gap between the ethical and evolutionary dimensions of human experience.
Finally, the essay examines the interplay of different sets of oppositions in The Time Machine, highlighting the temporal division between the frame narrative and the Time Traveller's future experience. The essay explores the spatial division between the Eloi and the Morlocks, emphasizing how these oppositions are mapped onto the conflict between different forms of memory.
Schlüsselwörter (Keywords)
The main keywords and focus topics of this essay are: memory, modernity, history, critique, H.G. Wells, The Time Machine, evolution, ethics, Enlightenment, modernism, social evolution, technological advancement, narrative structure, mythical memory, historical memory, personal memory.
- Quote paper
- M.A. Markus Kienscherf (Author), 2004, Memory and modernity in H.G. Well's "The Time Machine", Munich, GRIN Verlag, https://www.grin.com/document/47036
