REMEMBERING AS RESISTANCE: ETHICAL MEMORY IN OLD GOD'S TIME

Abstract

This article explores the concept of ethical memory in Old God's Time by Sebastian Barry. It argues that memory in the novel is not a stable or simple recall of past events but an active, unstable, and morally charged force that continuously shapes the present. Ethical memory is understood in this study as a form of remembering that carries responsibility toward truth, suffering, and hidden histories especially those erased or silenced by institutions. The study focuses on how the novel presents memory as fragmented, intrusive, and emotionally overwhelming. The protagonist does not experience memory as a clear narrative of the past but as sudden returns of images, feelings, and partial recollections. These memories disturb his present life and create a constant sense of psychological pressure. Aging intensifies this condition, as the weight of lived experience becomes heavier and more difficult to contain. In this way, memory is not only personal but also ethical, because it forces confrontation with unresolved pain and moral conflict. The article also examines how the novel reveals institutional violence and systemic silence. It suggests that institutions such as religious and state structures often suppress uncomfortable truths, particularly those related to abuse and moral failure. Within this context, ethical memory becomes a form of resistance, as it refuses to allow silence to erase suffering. Memory becomes a space where hidden histories reappear and demand recognition. Finally, the article connects ethical memory with trauma theory and trans modernist thinking. While memory is fragmented and unstable, it still carries moral meaning and the possibility of truth. The study concludes that remembering in the novel is not only a psychological process but also an ethical act that challenges forgetting, exposes injustice, and resists institutional erasure.