History has widely been viewed as being an essential ingredient in the formation of identity. This article examines this assumption from the perspective of how narratives about the past serve as a kind of 'cultural tool' in 'mediated action' that creates and re-creates identity. Some properties of narratives as cultural tools are outlined, and it is argued that both the production and consumption of these cultural tools must be taken into account in order to develop an adequate analysis of history and identity. The notions of 'mastery' and 'appropriation' are introduced as preferable to the undifferentiated construct of 'internalization' when interpreting findings reported in other articles of this issue's special topic as well as elsewhere.
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