Connection of Historiography and Memory - Research Paper Example

Memory entails the ability to look or hear about some information in present day and then remember such information later when anything related to such is mentioned or seen. Memory is related to the present, meaning that the perception of today is likely to change in the future, based on the contexts and the circumstances that will be there at that moment. Therefore, memory is a dynamic aspect that keeps changing over time, and that is shaped by the current trend (Terdiman, 1993). Various approaches address the relationship between historiography and memory.

A first approach is a historiographical approach, which has with it the elements of time and space. According to this approach, memories are the actual events that occurred at some point in the past, while history is the representation of such events by historians in a subjective manner, based on what they can remember and what they perceive as relevant (Schwartz, 1997). Space is another element of memory that relates the past events with tangibles physical locations. Thus, according to this approach, memory entails trying to remember things that happened in the past, which are non-existent today.

In so doing, representation of such events becomes a vital aspect, as it helps people in remembering the actual events that occurred, through having them represented in various forms. This way, the approach establishes the relationship between historiography and memory, in that memory is the recipe that builds history, which in turn refreshes the memory through the representation of the past (Terdiman, 1993). The other approach that addresses the relationship between historiography and memory is the cultural studies approach.

According to this approach, memory is incorporated in the body of an individual, through mannerisms, habits, and gestures (Schwartz, 1997). This way, an individual transfers such memory to the next generation, which then does the same to the other generations.