Dissecting Memory: Unravelling the Autobiographical Process

Brockmeier, J (in press). Dissecting memory: unravelling the autobiographical process. From: Beyond the Archive: Memory, Narrative, and the Autobiographical Process. Oxford & New York: Oxford University Press. The stories we tell about ourselves and how we remember events can have a profound effect upon our conceptions of 'the self.' Brockmeier's essay on "Dissecting memory" examines how fiction and autobiography can both shape self-perception.

To analyze this concept, Brockmeier uses Ian McEwan's novel Saturday as a kind of case study, which makes the narrator's stream-of-consciousness about both mundane and important matters as its driving focus, more so than external events. Selective remembering and selective forgetting involve both cognitive and psychological factors: memory is a neurological process, but emotions also affect how and what we remember. Forgetting is not necessarily a 'bad' thing: it can enable us to experience things afresh when we revisit them, versus solely dwelling in negative aspects of the past.

I found this essay particularly interesting because of the extent to which it highlighted the different ways I have told my own story -- to myself and to others -- in the past. There are a number of various elements to my character: I am a friend, student, and a child, depending on my relationship with the individual to whom I am speaking. This positional identity often affects how I see myself and therefore what I remember and what I forget when I am speaking and interacting with someone.

Experiences can seem (and probably are) very disconnected but by telling a story, an individual is able to create a coherent sense of meaning and identity from these seemingly random bits of memory. This idea can be very empowering: if we are the creators of our own autobiographies that means we can consciously change ourselves for the better by telling new stories.

For example, if I have a very negative self-concept about myself regarding a particular issue (such as the idea that I am 'bad at math') simply by changing the narrative I tell about myself and remembering different, more positive recollections, I can create a new sense of identity. Schraube, E. & Marvakis, A. (2015). Frozen fluidity: Digital technology and the transformation of students' learning and conduct of everyday life. In E. Schraube and C. Hojholt (Eds.), Psychology and the conduct of everyday life. London: Routledge.

Digital technology has become ubiquitous in the modern classroom: even traditional classrooms now usually have some online component, such as chatrooms or message boards. This can be useful because of the way online technology can facilitate communication between students and teachers on a regular basis. New technology has been particularly useful in ending the old 'internalization' model of learning whereby students were envisioned as passive subjects who watched more experienced individuals perform tasks and then replicated the process by rote. Digital technology allows for a more interactive experience.

It also underlines the extent to which teaching and learning are interrelated process, given the intimacy of communication between teacher and student. It is often said that the best way to learn something is to teach it. Students can also act as 'teachers' if they are more familiar with certain forms of technology than the instructor. Learning today has the potential to be more expansive in nature and motivated by intellectual curiosity rather than defensive fear. Problem-oriented and participatory learning is encouraged.