In this paper, I propose a new approach for understanding the meaning of memory politics, which draws upon the archetypal literary criticism of Northrop Frye. I suggest that the four archetypes elaborated by Frye—comedy, romance, tragedy, and satire—can be used as a heuristic device for interpreting the contested historical narratives that are associated with the politics of memory. I illustrate this approach through a case-study of Artists and Empire: Facing Britain’s Imperial Past, an exhibition held at Tate Britain in 2016, amidst increasing contestation over the meaning of the British Empire. In sum, I find that the exhibit narrated Britain’s imperial past as a comedy, in which a key theme was the progressive cultural mixing of the British and the people they colonized. To conclude, I discuss the implications of such a narrative for constructing an inclusive, postcolonial British identity. As an alternative, I draw on Aristotle to suggest that a tragic narrative would have been more propitious.

在这篇论文中，我提出了一种理解记忆政治意义的新方法，它借鉴了诺斯罗普弗莱的原型文学批评。我建议弗莱阐述的四种原型——喜剧、浪漫、悲剧和讽刺——可以作为一种启发式手段来解释与记忆政治相关的有争议的历史叙事。我通过艺术家与帝国的案例研究来说明这种方法：面对英国的帝国过去2016 年在英国泰特美术馆举办的一场展览，当时人们对大英帝国的意义争论不断。总而言之，我发现该展览将英国的帝国历史描述为一部喜剧，其中一个关键主题是英国与其殖民人民的渐进式文化融合。最后，我讨论了这种叙事对构建包容性的后殖民英国身份的影响。作为替代方案，我借鉴亚里士多德的观点认为，悲惨的叙述会更有利。