Memories allow individuals to store relevant past experiences in their brains and transmit information across generations in the form of learned cultural traditions. These past experiences can happen through literary representation such as books, film, paintings, and monuments. Memories of this type are known as cultural memories and have been studied by various individuals.
Regarding cultural memory, it is the “transformative historical experience that defines a culture” (Rodriguez & Fortier, 2007) and is shared by a number of people. There are different forms of cultural memory; such as, formal, institutional, private, and personal. These memories can happen through history, schools, religion, holidays, anecdotes, memoires, and counter-narratives.
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As Renate Lachmann states, “When literature is considered in the light of memory, it appears as the mnemonic art par excellence. Literature is culture’s memory, not as a simple recording device, but as a body of commemorative actions that include the knowledge stored by a culture, and virtually all texts a culture has produced and by which a culture is constituted” (Lachmann, 2008, pg. 301). Literary scholars Astrid Erll and Ansgar Nunning have emphasized the relationship between literature and memory with three different concepts; the memory of literature, memory in literature and, literature as a medium of collective memory. In reference to the different concepts, the first being memory of literature, Erll and Nunning (2005) state, “the memory of literature appears to be a reference to cultural pre-texts which manifests itself on a text-internal level, actualizing and transforming them.” Secondly, memory in literature, according to Erll (2010), “captures work done on the forms of the aesthetic representation, or: staging, of memory.” Lastly, literature as a medium of collective memory is described by Erll and Rigney (2006) as, “reflecting upon the epistemology, ethics, and workings of collective memory and, as such, it engages in a dialogue with historians and sociologists regarding the interpretation of the past and the forms appropriate to
The cohesion of the members of the oral community is achieved because there is no separation of the knower from the known. The meters, sounds, and images can “not be abstracted beyond commemorative practices…they do not constitute information as a separable body of mental objects” (30), but rather function as an aid to memory. Print culture cannot bridge this gap. Although “writing” permits communication over space and time” (13), the reader is forever distanced from the content. There is no immediacy of knowing, no necessity for memory, and the print culture is provided a license to forget.
Lebow, Richard Ned. "The Future of Memory." American Academy of Political and Social 617 (2008): 25-41. JSTOR. Web. 21 Apr. 2014.
Ethnography is a research method used to explore different cultures from a personal view. Many anthropologists have sought to use ethnography as their main study method because of its specificity and opportunity to get hands on. Those that participate in ethnographies are expected to accurately record detailed accounts of the society in which they are staying, but at the same time maintain a critical distance.
How does memory affect the way in which history is viewed? Memory is based on a series of decisions on what is worth remembering and what should be forgotten. It is a process of suppressing history that is unbearable or difficult, yet it is also about reflecting on what is misunderstood. Memory is formed through several influencing factors and elements; Memory can be formed by the study of pop culture and icons, which often propose a reexamination of difficult and repressed memories. Memory is also influenced through exclusions and biases. These can be racially or politically motivated, but they could also derive from personal or cultural trauma. Recorded history such as textbooks, novels,
Remembrance is an integral part of our everyday lives. Both pleasant and unpleasant memories shape who we are as human beings. The definition of memory is two fold 1. “the faculty by which the mind stores and remembers information” and 2. “Something remembered from the past; a recollection” (Google Definition). The life of memory has three stages in which it is created. An event occurs in ones life it becomes encoded and stored in the brain. Following the encoding, the brain then has full access to retrieve the memory in a response to any current activity or thought. Memories are unique to each person. There are three main types of memories that are studied. An individual memory is one that is formed by his or her personal experiences. An institutional
Collective memory is the remembered history of a community; the way groups form memories out of a shared past to create a common identity. Collective memory is the structures that underlie all myths and histories without any distinction between them. The past that is fixed and internalized is myth, whether it is fact or fiction (Assmann 2011: 59). Therefore the memory of a group is a construction, or reconstruction, of the past. Collective memory can be expressed through a variety of different medias, e.g. festivals, rituals, symbols, memorial places, museums, as well as oral and written narratives, like myths, prophecies, law material, biographies and perceived historical accounts (Lewis 1975: 13). Each memory is specifically designed to recall events in the history of the collective. The past remembered is not necessarily a historically accurate past, but it is based on stories recognized to be the past as it has been remembe...
Our memory is made up of many different types of memories; episodic, semantic, and implicit. Episodic memory is the remembrance of a certain event. An example of this
As I have been reading memoirs about memory for this class, each essay made me recall or even examine my past memory closely. However, the more minutely I tried to recall what happened in the past, the more confused I got because I could not see the clear image and believe I get lost in my own memory, which I thought, I have preserved perfectly in my brain. The loss of the details in each memory has made me a little bit sentimental, feeling like losing something important in my life. But, upon reading those essays, I came to realize that remembering correct the past is not as important as growing up within memory. However, the feelings that were acquired from the past experience tend to linger distinctly. The essay that is related to my experience
What is memory and how its work. It is usually link with the ‘thinking of again’ or ‘recalling to the mind’ of a thing learned or memorized before. Definitions of this sort imply conscious awareness in the remembered that they are recollecting something of the past. For instance, we may remember our first day of school or some information like who is the president of the country. Basically, this is just tiny part of our capacity when we check out the full human memory capabilities.
Memory is the process of acquiring, storing and retrieving information. Memories sub-consciously influence the way we perceive novel situations in our environment as well as how we interpret future events. Memory is of the following types: Immediate, Short term, Long term and Specific
What associations arise in our head when we talk about memory? First of all, this is the memory of generations, historical and cultural memory. These concepts correlate with the development of society, with the greatest values and events within the whole world, the state or some individual nations.
Imagine having the ability to take a screenshot of what one sees. It sounds like photographic memory, that superhuman ability one often hears about on Dateline, movies, and shows. As much as the idea of saving everything one has ever perceived, storing it away like a file in a cabinet, and recalling it at a moment’s notice sounds amazing, it just isn’t plausible. Despite the sensationalism and myth surrounding it, photographic memory is not real. This misconception is often muddled with eidetic memory. Eidetic memory is the ability to recall certain images in great detail for a certain amount of time. After viewing a picture, a person with eidetic memory will retain the image in his or her mind, as if it is still present, floating in space (Berry, 2014). The “catch” about eidetic memory is that these “snapshots” are not stored forever. They eventually fade over time along with the actual ability itself. In 1964, Haber and Haber, two psychologists, conducted a series of studies on eidetic memory and found a correlation between it and age. In their experiments, children were exposed to a detailed picture on an easel for approximately thirty seconds. When the picture was taken away, the children scanned the blank easel in order to recall the image. They described the image in present tense, as if it was still there (Arnaudo, 2008). Haber and Haber found that although it is relatively rare, eidetic memory occurred more in children than adults. But upon further research, it appears there is an explanation to its gradual dissipation as one matures. Eidetic memory is more commonly found in children, because as children grow, their brains develop linguistically, functionally...
Memory is defined as “the faculty by which the mind stores and remembers information” (“Tmesis”, n.d.). Memory is purely mental. Everyone has memories, either pleasant or unpleasant, but they are still there. They are an essential part of who we are and without them, we would struggle to establish our identity. Memory is not only images of the past, but emotions too. They are the main reason a memory is either stored or forgotten.
Memory is the tool we use to learn and think. We all use memory in our everyday lives. Memory is the mental faculty of retaining and recalling past experiences. We all reassure ourselves that our memories are accurate and precise. Many people believe that they would be able to remember anything from the event and the different features of the situation. Yet, people don’t realize the fact that the more you think about a situation the more likely the story will change. Our memories are not a camcorder or a camera. Our memory tends to be very selective and reconstructive.
...kinson and Shriffin model: the parallel- distributed and processing connectionistic. The parallel-distributed processing model states that information is processed simultaneously by several different parts of the memory system. Since the time of the first experiment on grouping, psychologists have consistently found that