A semiotic theory of memory

Between Movement and Form

Bibliographic Data

ID4474598
AuthorsDaniele Salerno (0000-0002-8556-1055, Utrecht University , Utrecht , Netherlands, corresponding author)
Year2021
Volume2021
Issue241
Pages87-119
Publication date2021-07-27
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueSemiotica (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0037-1998 • E-ISSN: 1613-3692
PublisherWalter de Gruyter GmbH (PUBLISHER • DE)
DOI10.1515/sem-2019-0125
OpenAlexW3099505417
LanguageEN
Citations received12
References cited31

In the multidisciplinary field of memory studies, remembering and forgetting have mainly been analyzed following two ideal-typical models: memory-as-containment (exemplified by the notions of framework and site of memory) and memory-as-flow (epitomized by the notions of afterlife and mnemohistory). These two models are often presented as mutually exclusive and counterposed. Yet, in linking past with present, and when connecting different spaces and generations, memory is always the result of circulation (flow) as well as of local semiotic conditions of production and use (containment). By investigating memory-making and oblivion-making in processes of interpretation, the semiotic perspective elaborated by Umberto Eco allows us to envision memory-as-containment and memory-as-flow in a combined analysis, where the twofold conception of memory - either as movement or as form - merges. The aim of this article is, then, to provide an interpretative theory of memory, and to identify and describe the methodological tools capable of implementing such an approach. The memory of the former Italian concentration camp of Fossoli will serve as an exemplary and illustrative case study

Cognitive psychology · Cognitive science · Epistemology · Field (mathematics) · Forgetting · Interpretation (philosophy) · Linguistics · Perspective (graphical) · Semiotics · Artificial Intelligence · Computer Science · Hermeneutics and Narrative Identity · Italian Fascism and Post-war Society · Mathematics · Memory, Trauma, and Commemoration · Philosophy · Psychology