Historiography and literature: An alliance or a symbiosis?

Abstract

This article examines the concept of cultural memory. Special attention is paid to historiographical texts as a means of representation of cultural memory. The author analyses and compares theories describing relations between historiographical and literary texts. Such relations are based on the fiction/non-fiction opposition. It is concluded that the aesthetic component assumes significance in structuring historiographical texts.

Keywords

• cultural memory
• primary sources
• historiographical texts
• literature
• fiction