Title variants
Theoretical remarks on the concept of memorat in the context of the psychology of memories
Languages of publication
Abstracts
In this article psychological knowledge of the functioning of autobiographical memory is confronted with folkloristic theories associated with the concept of memorat, which designates narrations of personal experiences with supernatural beings and phenomena. Human memory is not a vessel in which static information is deposited and later retrieved. It is a dynamic process of repeated construction and reconstruction of memories, which is subject to outside influences. This knowledge corresponds to folklorists’ findings: that the elements of traditional ideas are already part of narratives about personal experiences and they are not inevitably a mere result of the changes in stories during their further transmission. The author links the findings of the folklorist Lauri Honko (1964) with the present-day knowledge of psychology concerning so-called false memories. Subsequently, using the results of his own research focused on memorats, he documents this connection.
Year
Volume
Issue
Pages
6 – 17
Physical description
Contributors
author
- Ústav etnológie SAV, Klemensova 19, 813 64 Bratislava, Slovak Republic, vladimir.bahna@savba.sk
References
Document Type
Publication order reference
Identifiers
YADDA identifier
bwmeta1.element.cejsh-792a483b-bd2e-4203-9ecb-48db1abf4aad
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