Experiential Memories: The Construction And Construction Of Memory

The past as lived, and the past as told are interconnected, yet unique entities. Huyssen (1995) argues that “the past is not simply there in memory, but it must be articulated to become memory” (Huyssen 1995:03). This is supported by the previous discussion of narrative memory formation in which experiential data needs to be processed, given narrative patterns, and transformed into that which can be verbalized and incorporated into the individual’s memories, life history, and identity. In doing so, we engage our past twice, as actors in the moment and as narrators who revive the past and give it shape for the present. However, this process of articulation is not an isolated action. It depends on social conventions to be articulated and

Though we often think of our life narratives as solely belonging to us, internal personal property, Thorne (2000) argues that, given how many of our memories are shared with others, both in retelling and as co-present characters in the tales, the term “intimate memories” applies more aptly. Employing the term “intimate” offer a few, related yet all applicable, interpretations. Not only are the memories intimate in relation to the narrator’s personal experience and construction of self, including their sense of self in relation to other characters in the story, the act of exchanging life stories creates and intensifies intimate social bonds (Nelson

Johnstone’s 1991 book, Stories, Communities, and Place, examines how narratives about a place or about people in a place help to define both community identity and the identities of the people by highlighting their interaction with their environment and with one another in that environment. Additionally, Basso’s (1996) Wisdom Sits in Places explores how stories told about the history of a place becomes part of the identity of the people who continue to interact with these sites and their community of fellow