Literature and Cultural Memory

In “Communicative and Cultural Memory,” Jan Assmann draws on his own classic work “Collective Memory and Cultural Identity” to analyze a concept he calls “cultural memory.”

In two to three pages (excluding title and reference pages), explain in your own words what cultural memory is and apply this concept to literature. How does literary representation of historical events help create our sense of cultural identity? Cite Assmann and other authors, as appropriate, to support your argument.