Stories We Remember By: Narrativity and Memory-Making
Year: 2024
Type: article
Abstract: This chapter examines how narrative schemata underpin the processes of memory-making, exploring their role in transforming past events into meaningful and transmittable stories. Building on Ann Rigney’s concept of “scarcity” in memory and Vladimir Propp’s narrative templates, the analysis integrates Algirdas Julien Greimas’s actantial model to demonstrate how narrativity organizes diverse discourses. Historical, fictional, and media narratives rely on similar semiotic structures, yet their interpretive frameworks vary across domains. Using examples such as Ann Rigney’s exploration of historiography and Eugene Delacroix’s La Liberté guidant le peuple, the chapter illustrates how stories evolve into cultural models, shaping collective memory. The discussion extends to media representations, such as Le Monde’s coverage of the Charlie Hebdo attacks, which employed iconic visual and narrative templates to embed events in collective memory. By bridging narratology, cognitive studies, and cultural memory, this chapter underscores narrativity as a foundational tool for study of memory.
Source: Figshare
Author: Salerno, Daniele
Language: English
Subfield: Literature and Literary Theory
Field: Arts and Humanities
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W6977144337
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