Where: Institut Français, 17
Queensberry Place, London, SW7 2DT
When: 15
November
With: Kirsten
Shepherd-Barr (Modern Drama, Oxford); John Downes (Neuropsychology,
Liverpool John Moores); Sarah McCartney (Perfumer);
Barry Smith (Philosophy,
School of Advanced Study)
This first MemoryNetwork event debates the changing relationship between literature and science
in the twenty-first century by re-inventing the iconic ‘madeleine’ episode in
Marcel Proust’s À la Recherche du Temps Perdu, in which memories of
Combray involuntarily flood back into the mind of the author. Neurogastronomer
Gordon Shepherd has recently disputed many a literary critics’ claim that this
episode is driven purely by involuntary memories. According to his reading,
these memories are not involuntary but rather the result of ‘metonymic
expansion’ that also draws on voluntary memory. What does this knowledge add to
our understanding of the madeleine passage and our reading of Proust’s work in
general? Can neuroscience really reveal higher truths about the workings of the
human sensory system than Proust’s remarkable art of memory?
In order to
investigate and contextualise these questions, we are inviting members of the
public to take part in a series of experiments. Due to the experimental nature
of the event, we are unable to disclose many details at this point. However, we
can reveal that it will involve a comparison of different sensory responses,
and the recording of the audience’s autobiographical memories triggered by the
‘blind’ smelling of laboratory-generated scents. For more information, sign up
as a volunteer by writing to memorynetwork@roehampton.ac.uk
with the subject line ‘Proustean Phenomenon: Volunteer’. Please note: the
experiment is not suitable for smokers or those with impairment of smell
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