Narrative productions of memory: reflections on collective memories as knowledge about the past

Abstract

ABSTRACT This article proposes the Narrative Production Methodology (NPM) as a suitable methodology in the field of critical collective memory studies. Firstly, we discuss the narrative dimension of collective memory, exploring possible articulations between the critical perspective of the Social Psychology of Memory and NPM. We call this articulation Narrative Productions of Memory and we develop its potential through an example of research on the memories of migrant struggles for rights in Barcelona. We argue that Narratives of Memory produce knowledge by linking remembered experiences with present repertoires of interpretation, elaborating an understanding of current contexts and power relations that need to be challenged, and promoting alternatives. The strength of NPM in collective memory studies, we argue, lies in the production of horizontal and legitimate knowledge about the past, blurring the distance between researcher and participant, data and interpretation, memory and history.