The Art of Memory. About Milada Součková’s Prose “Hlava umělce”

Abstract

The article presents the typology of various kinds of memory which can be discerned in Milada Součkova’s novel-essay. The author refers to Aleida Assmann’s theory distinguishing between remembering and recollecting. Further in the article, memory traces and imprints are discussed, including the special group of mnemonic objects. Krzysztof Pomian’s theory of semiophores is also referred to with regard to the analysed work of literature. Other important traces of memory mentioned in the paper are the so-called “second-hand memories”, constituting one of the regular motifs widely present in Součkova’s text. The analysis concerning senses and body as memory media is another essential part of the article. Elements of somatopoetics also form an important constituent of the setting creation in the book as well as of the memory layer presented therein.