The Art of Memories? Deirdre Madden and her Time Present and Time Past

- Presentation speakers
  - Zuzanna Sanches, University of Lisbon, Portugal
Abstract:

This essay will analyse the operations of memory as a self—contained system that finds its utmost realisation in art, here still—life photography. We will look at Deirdre Madden’s latest novel Time Present and Time Past where the plasticity of cognitive memory and the subjective interpretation of an image complement visual narratives of photography in the absence of human life. Through the reference to visual arts Madden manages to create a double gaze that contributes to the crystallization of identities in the novel. We read/look at the characters as they look at/read into the photographs in self—analysis and in an attempt to (re) construct self-hood. The lacunae of the process are found in the juxtaposition of the dynamic character of narrativisation and the static character of still—life photography. How art creates life and how words correspond to images will be the main focus of the talk.