Memory

Abstract

The new major interest in memory, a “mnemonic turn,” as it were, has been one of the main challenges in the theory and practice of history over the recent few decades. This chapter focusses on how memory studies have redefined some of the most fundamental concepts in historical research (historical time, historical event, historical distance, etc.) and how the function of history can be re-evaluated in terms of cultural memory. It argues that considering history as a specific practice of cultural memory makes it possible to overcome the traditional opposition between history and memory and opens up a new perspective in historical research that we can call mnemohistory. On a deeper level, the mnemonic turn has made possible the emergence of a new notion of temporality, the rise of the concept of “non-linear” or “multiple temporalities,” distinct from the historicist idea of homogenous and irreversible time.