Beyond the Archive: Memory, Narrative, and the Autobiographical Process (Explorations in Narrative Psychology)

Synopsis

Our Longstanding View Of Memory And Remembering Is In The Midst Of A Profound Transformation. This Transformation Does Not Only Affect Our Concept Of Memory Or A Particular Idea Of How We Remember And Forget; It Is A Wider Cultural Process. In Order To Understand It, One Must Step Back And Consider What Is Meant When We Say Memory. Brockmeier's Far-ranging Studies Offer Such A Perspective, Synthesizing Understandings Of Remembering From The Neurosciences, Humanities, Social Studies, And In Key Works Of Autobiographical Literature And Life-writing. His Conclusions Force Us To Radically Rethink Our Very Notion Of Memory As An Archive Of The Past, One That Suggests The Natural Existence Of A Distinctive Human Capacity (or A Set Of Neuronal Systems) Enabling Us To Encode, Store, And Recall Past Experiences. --publisher. 1. Introduction: The Memory Crisis -- 2. Imagining Memory: The Archive Disintegrates -- 3. Shaping Memory: History, Metaphor, And Narrative -- 4. Interpreting Memory: The Narrative Alternative -- 5. Dissecting Memory: Unraveling The Autobiographical Process -- 6. Creating The Memory Of Oneself: Narrative Identity -- 7. Inhabiting A Culture Of Memory: The Autobiographical Process As A Form Of Life -- 8. Dissolving The Time Of Memory: The Autobiographical Process As Temporal Self-localization -- 9. Beyond Time: The Autobiographical Process As Search Movement -- 10. Reframing Memory -- References -- Index. Jens Brockmeier. Includes Bibliographical References And Index.