In his ‘After the Archive’ article, Brockmeier outlines limitations of the ‘archival model’ of memory, taking into account several dimensions of the burgeoning field of memory studies. In responding to the weaknesses he cites, he introduces ideas about narrative and its role in shaping human thought and memory. While narrative brings important assets to Brockmeier’s effort, it also carries conceptual baggage that is examined here. In particular, the prospects and problems of what philosophers have labeled ‘narrative memory’ are outlined, and narrative tools are presented as having both empowering affordances as well as limiting constraints.
Assmann, J. ( 2007). Cultural memories and national narratives: With some relation to the case of Georgia. Caucasus Context, 3(1), 40-43.
2.
Brockmeier, J. ( 2010). After the archive: Remapping memory. Culture & Psychology, 16(1), 5-35.
3.
Bruner, J.S. ( 2002). Making stories: Law, literature, life. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux.
4.
Connerton, P. ( 1989). How societies remember. Cambridge : Cambridge University Press.
5.
Gluck, C. ( 2007). Operations of memory: ‘Comfort women’ and the world. In S. M. Jager & R. Mitter (Eds.), Ruptured memories: War, memory, and the post-Cold War in Asia. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
6.
Halbwachs, M. ( 1980). The collective memory (F. J. Ditter, Jr., & V. Yazdi Ditter, Trans.). New York: Harper Colophon Books.
7.
Hasegawa, T. ( 2005). Racing the enemy: Stalin, Truman, and the surrender of Japan. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
8.
James, W. ( 1890). The principles of psychology. New York: Dover.
9.
McCloskey, M., Wible, C.G., & Cohen, N.J. ( 1988). Is there a special flashbulb-memory mechanism? Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 117(2), 171-181.
10.
McNally, R.J. ( 2003). Remembering trauma. Cambridge, MA : Harvard University Press.
11.
Mink, L.O. ( 1978). Narrative form as a cognitive instrument. In R. H. Canary & H. Kozicki (Eds.), The writing of history: Literary form and historical understanding (pp. 129-149). Madison, WI: University of Wisconsin Press.
12.
Neisser, U. ( 1966). Cognitive psychology. New York: Appleton-Century-Crofts.
13.
Novick, P. ( 1999). The holocaust in American life. Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin Company.
14.
Ong, W.J. ( 1988). Orality and literacy: The technologizing of the word . New York: Methuen.
15.
Ricoeur, P. ( 1984-86). Time and narrative (Vols. 1&2; Kathleen McLaughlin & David Pellauer, Trans.). Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.
16.
Roediger, H.L., Jacoby, J.D., & McDermott, K.B. (1996). Misinformation effects in recall: Creating false memories through repeated retrieval. Journal of Memory and Language, 35, 300-318.
17.
Szpunar, K.K., Watson, J.M., & McDermott, K.B. (2007). Neural substrates of envisioning the future. PNAS, 104(2), 642-647.
18.
Tulving, E. ( 1984). Precis of elements of episodic memory. Behavioural and Brain Sciences, 7, 223-68.
19.
Valsiner, J. ( 1987). Culture and the development of children’s action . Chichester: Wiley.
20.
Wertsch, J.V. ( 1998). Mind as action. New York: Oxford University Press.
21.
Wertsch, J.V. ( 2002). Voices of collective remembering. New York: Cambridge University Press.
22.
Wertsch, J.V. ( 2008). A clash of deep memories. Profession , 2008, 46-53.
23.
White, H. ( 1981). The value of narrativity in the representation of reality . In W. J. T. Mitchell (Ed.), On narrative (pp. 1-23). Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.
24.
Zerubavel, E. ( 2003). Time maps: Collective memory and the social shape of the past. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.
