How does the context influence memory narratives?

Research from the field of memory studies might help you to answer that question. Memory studies look at the way through which processes of remembrance are shaped by cultural and/or social/collective processes of commemoration and tradition. One of the earliest voices in the field has been Maurice Halbwachs in the 1920s, but the field has considerably developed in the last three to four decades, especially because of the question how the Holocaust can/should be remembered after the survivors and their personal memory die. Other important voices include, for example Aleida Assmann, Caren Caruth, or Jeffrey Olick (the latter also edited a reader with important texts of Memory Studies). Nowadays, even different media are considered to shape memories. Depending if you are from the social sciences or from the humanities, you might want to consider either social or cultural memory studies.

Thank you very much for your comment. I will pay attention to these observations and will consult the texts of the authors mentioned. Actually, I hadn't read anything about Aleida Assmann, Caren Caruth, or Jeffrey Olick. I think it will be very useful readings. My research aims to verify memories from a sociodynamic perspective and, therefore, time, narratives, contexts and policies of memory, are objects of my interest. Once again, thank you very much.

look at:

Hope this helps... Its a good paper by Parker et al. 2007.

I believe in continuity of memory from one human to another, I am working on this subject through predicting the future of political events in my stochastic model, but I do need more data to verify my approach, in case you shall have time you may go through different projections in my model:

If we explore "The memories of the events" we may improve a lot our future with human values.

I think that research on 'explicit and implicit memory' is really interesting to understand the dynamics of social memory and the influences of the context. The paper “Environmental context effects in conceptual explicit and implicit memory” (recommended by Dr. Ken Drinkwater) is really interesting. About the transmission of memories and the Stochastic Model (recommended by Dr. Amin Elsaleh), I'm very interested to know more.

Thank you very much for the all comments and for the excellent research suggestions.

Context can also include "macro-narratives", that is, the larger cultural stories within which individuals tell their own stories and recruit personal memories. Much interesting work has been done in situations where the macro-narrative is not necessarily supportive of the emerging lifestories of particular groups (e.g., LGBTQ youth). Moreover, "listener" effects, that is, how other people listen and respond to our reminiscences can shape the memories we retrieve. Work by K. McLean and M. Pasupathi could be valuable to your search. Best of luck.

Thanks a million! I’m very interested to see that perspective and I will read the papers of the recommended authors. I will read more about macro-narratives and micro-narratives, because I knew that approach in the scope of Marketing Communication Strategy, in the scope of Social Memory I need to read more. I'm always very impressed by how open and interesting this field is. Thank you very much for the comment and reading suggestion.

Echoing a previous respondent who named Caruth (Cathy). The variety of essays in these two edited collections offer some interesting perspectives on your question: Caruth, Cathy, ed. 1995. Trauma: Explorations in memory. Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University Press, and Caruth, Cathy. 1996. Unclaimed experience: Trauma, narrative,and history. Baltimore, MD: John Hopkins University Press. Trauma studies often deal with the context of memory. You might also be interested also in the work of psychologists who have written about memory and trauma; for example, Besel van der Kolk.

Thank you so much for your comment! I will read more about the relationship between 'trauma' and 'memory' (or social memory). I had recently found some papers about bubble memories, and I found relationships between these types of memories and autobiographical narratives, especially regarding memory reconstructions. This is a very interesting topic.

this is a huge area in sociology and anthropology. You may consult the The Collective Memory Reader (available in Amazon) for a brief overview of this area, and for more sociological approaches see Alexander, J. book on Trauma and the edited volumes Narrating Trauma: On the Impact of Collective Suffering & Cultural Trauma and Collective Identity. There is a rich literature around these topics.

That's right, there is a rich literature about social memory in sociology and anthropology and this is really fascinating. My research is centered on social memory, especially about memory narratives in social microcosms such as school. My research proposes a sociodynamic perspective and I'm delighted to find a vast literature on the social dynamics of memory. Thank you very much for your comment and reading suggestions.