Does memory of the distant past matter? Remediating the Norman Conquest

Abstract

The article examines the question of whether memory of the distant past can matter today by drawing on a case study of contemporary British memory and myths of the Norman Conquest. The two main sources of data are a corpus of newspaper articles in which the Conquest is referred to, and a quantitative survey of the population of the United Kingdom. In a preliminary discussion myths of the Norman Conquest are described, and differences between recent and distant memory of a significant event are considered. Then the question of intercultural relations and distant memory is examined, in particular whether British memory of the Norman Conquest has an impact on international and intra-national relations today as expressed in attitudes towards the French, and towards foreigners in Britain. It is concluded that memory of past iconic events does have an impact, and that characteristics of distant memory such as multiple remediation, multidirectionality and affective mobility are important in explaining the role and influence of memory of the distant past regarding intercultural relations today. Keywords Distant memory, intercultural relations, Norman ConquestThis article examines the question of whether memory of the distant past can matter today by reporting on a case study of British 1 memory of the Norman Conquest of England (1066). In order to gauge significance, I start by giving some information about how many people have heard of the event, whether people think it was important, and whether people know much about it. I also discuss the stories and myths surrounding the event. But what I'm interested in primarily is a further set of questions: Do people have an emotional link with the past event? Does this emotional attitude impact on their attitudes to present-day people and situations? With regard to these questions, my focus is on the potential impact of memory of the Norman Conquest on intercultural relations today, both international and intra-national. Before pursuing the issue of intercultural relations,

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