PAMLA 2025: Between Rupture and Myth: Discontinuity and Memory in Contemporary Literature (Panel / In-Person) (https://pamla.ballastacademic.com/Home/S/19519)
San Francisco, California
Organization: The Pacific Ancient and Modern Language Association (PAMLA)
Event: https://pamla.ballastacademic.com/Home/S/19519
PAMLA 2025: Between Rupture and Myth: Discontinuity and Memory in Contemporary Literature (Panel / In-Person)
https://pamla.ballastacademic.com/Home/S/19519
The twentieth century has often been interpreted – especially in Europe and by those who experienced its events firsthand – as a historical phase of profound discontinuity, a sharp break with a millennia-old cultural and spiritual tradition. The beliefs and foundational myths that once shaped European civilizations gradually dissolved, giving way to new cults: the cult of technology, the cult of the state, and the personalistic worship of leaders. At the level of high culture, the century was marked by a restless search for new languages and by the theorization of an epochal transition, expressed through avant-garde movements and postmodern thought.
Even in the new millennium, the accelerated pace of history – largely driven by technological development and the globalisation of communication – has reinforced the sense of a radical break between past and present. However, this sense of discontinuity is countered by the persistence of myth as a principle of cohesion and reinterpretation of meaning. If, as Schelling claimed, mythology is “comparable only to nature itself in its depth, duration and universality”, it continues to play an essential role in providing society with the tools to interpret and absorb epochal changes. Myth does not disappear in the face of rupture, but transforms and reappears as a hidden structure within cultural narratives.
Reflecting on the crisis of the European sciences, Husserl identifies its origin in the loss of the concept of truth. Within this theoretical framework, an additional perspective is offered by Rilke, for whom the images of the world are “earthly faces” of a broader reality, participating simultaneously in two dimensions. In this light, myths are not merely remnants of the past, but symbolic counterparts of a dimension of reality that remains constant beyond temporal ruptures. Myth functions as a counterpoint to historical experience, persisting through change and resisting the dispersion and fragmentation of identity.
This session explores the dialectic between rupture and myth through the lens of contemporary literature, in dialogue with history, philosophy, and the arts. How does literary production respond to an era that perceives itself as radically discontinuous with the past? Is rupture merely an interruption, or can it also serve as a space for reconstruction and reinterpretation? With contributions from scholars across disciplines, we aim to examine how contemporary literature negotiates the tension between discontinuity and the persistence of myth, exploring its role in preserving memory and reshaping cultural identity.
https://uw.academia.edu/PatrycjaPolanowska
Patrycja Polanowska
