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Recently, this has been changed by the work of Mary Carruthers. According to Carruthers, memoria was the
reason why literature, in its fundamental sense existed in medieval Europe. It was the process by which a
work of literature became both institutionalised by the group and learned by its individual members
(Carruthers, 1990)
For those medieval experts who were educated in the art of memory there were two principal
strategies for achieving their goal. The first and older of these strategies, attributed to Aristotle, relied on the
concept of ‘mental images’. Supporters of this strategy argued that remembering was to see mental pictures,
which are firmly imprinted upon the memory. Thus the best way to memorise narratives is to stimulate the
act of memorising by using visual aids such as emotion-provoking representations, or so-called ‘word
pictures’. Descriptive language can also be used to create a kind of mental painting, although no actual
pictures are present (Carruthers, 1990). As Albertus Magnus (1193-1280) puts it: ‘something is not secure
enough by hearing, but it is made firm by seeing’ (Albertus I. 1. II. 6-7)
The second, and more popular, strategy for memorising narratives was rote learning. This was
achieved by the frequent repetition of a text until it was accurately memorised. In this case, the process of
memorising was aided by the use of rhythmic and/or formulaic expressions, and by breaking longer texts
into numbered segments and then memorizing them one by one(Carruthers, 1990).
The followers of this strategy criticised the use of visual imagery because of its inaccuracy. It was
argued that the use of visual aids was marginally helpful at best, providing cues for recollection, but could
not in itself guarantee the accuracy of the memorising process (Carruthers, 1990). The latter countered the
criticism by arguing that, while in ordinary circumstances the accuracy of visual imagery could not be
trusted, this problem would disappear if the visual imagery was strong enough to make a person emotionally
engaged with the text. Indeed, they argued, it is the creation of strong emotional responses that makes the
use of visual images such a powerful tool for memory creation (Carruthers, 1990).