Silence, Memory and Imagination as Story

by Connie T. Braun

In her essay, "Silence, Memory and Imagination as Story: Canadian Mennonite Life Writing," Connie T. Braun articulates Paul Ricoeur's theory regarding memory and narrative and applies it to the historical Mennonite experience found in two masterworks of recent Mennonite fiction, Rudy Wiebe's Sweeter Than All the World and Sandra Birdsell's Russlaender (published in the U.S. as Katya).

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Comments for Silence, Memory and Imagination as Story

  • shirley showalter

    On May 17, 2009 shirley showalter wrote:
    I appreciate the fine scholarship of this piece. The theoretical work here helps explain why history and literature need to be studied together and why literary memory is just as important as literal memory. I find it interesting that Mennonites, at least in the U. S., first used history rather than theology as a way to preserve collective identity and create a "usable past." Now, the arts are telling a more complex, highly individual story. May all the flowers bloom.
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