Memory in Narrative

Abstract

“Memory” and “narrative” are terms describing how individuals and groups represent past events in the present. Children must learn what events are narratable; this is also training in what kinds of events should be remembered. Adults also must learn what stories are appropriate when they join new institutions, or convert to a new religion or ideology. Individuals' narratives change through the life course, altered by new events and new understandings of past events. Groups also represent their past in narrative. Collective memory is studied in anthropology, business, cognitive science, computer science, folklore, oral history, linguistics, literary studies, management studies, and sociology. The study of collective memory must distinguish between resources for memory, such as files, databases, archives, and so forth, and acts of remembering. New developments include uses of the Internet: archives, as well as social networking sites, blogs, computer games, personal and shared websites, and many other forms whose social conventions are still developing.