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Article published In:
Memory and Narrative
Edited by Alma Jeftic, Thomas Van de Putte and Johana Wyss
[Narrative Inquiry 33:2] 2023
► pp. 269–287

Memory is an interpretive action

ORCID logo | The American University of Paris

In this essay, I aim to shore up the epistemological foundations of memory studies so that it can more productively fulfill its promise to understand the dynamics of shared meaning-making. I argue for theoretical and, hence, methodological, advancement toward a more precise vocabulary for describing the movement of meaning over time and space and between persons as they engage with resources and each other in order to fix and revise shared interpretations. Drawing on the conceptual vocabulary of narrative, I describe some of the central tenets of this “back to the phenomenon” approach to social memory.

Keywords: narrative, memory, hermeneutics, Critical psychology, collective memory
Article outline
  • Introduction
  • Conceptualizing memory
  • Back to the phenomenon
  • Together-with others
  • Resourcefulness
  • On the ground floor
  • Notes
  • References
Published online: 31 January 2023
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/ni.22020.sch
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