Aleida Assmann on the Max Planck Research Prize and her plans
“The awarding of a Max Planck Research Prize for research on the topic of “history and memory” demonstrates the continuing relevance of a new research area that has developed less within than between various individual disciplines such as neuroscience, psychology, history, political science, literature, sociology, education, art and media studi
Interdisciplinary exchange, support for junior researchers and international cooperation
Since individual and collective memory are the object of intensive research in all these fields, it is particularly important that we link these individual interests more closely at this stage. With the resources allotted by the award, forums for interdisciplinary exchange should be created in a targeted way so as to address more effectively the complex topic of memory in its psychological, historical, political and cultural-symbolic dimensions. Equally important is that the award create job opportunities for junior researchers (for instance, in the form of doctoral programs) where new work can emerge in an optimal setting for perceiving and recognizing interdisciplinary research. At the same time, it will also be important to integrate more seriously in the research landscape of Constance those transatlantic contacts (especially at Yale University) and European contacts (including Oslo, Prague, Bologna, Ghent) that have been built up over the years.
Research fields
We should also continue to pursue the constantly present topic of dealing with both positive as well as disturbing memories in their biographical, social and political contexts in three major fields of research:
- German memory and the social integration of democracy after two dictatorships,
- European memory after 1945 and 1989, and
- contemporary non-European sites where the return of a traumatic past divides society and impedes the prospect of a common future.”