Representations of Forgetting in Life Writing and Fiction

1. Front Matter

   Pages i-xii

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2. Introduction: Writing the Forgotten

   • Gunnthorunn Gudmundsdottir

   Pages 1-22

3. Scenes of Forgetting in Life Writing

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 23-23

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   2. Forewords and Forgettings: Introductions and Preambles in Autobiography

      • Gunnthorunn Gudmundsdottir

      Pages 25-46

   3. Forgetting and the Writing Moment: Corrections and Family Archives

      • Gunnthorunn Gudmundsdottir

      Pages 47-68

   4. Forgetting Online: Self-representation on Social Network Sites

      • Gunnthorunn Gudmundsdottir

      Pages 69-87

4. The Past Recovered

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 89-89

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   2. Excavating a Troubled Past: Spanish Memory Texts

      • Gunnthorunn Gudmundsdottir

      Pages 91-112

   3. Forgetting as Disguise: Memory Debates of Occupation

      • Gunnthorunn Gudmundsdottir

      Pages 113-128

   4. The Inheritance of Forgetting: Narratives of Postmemory

      • Gunnthorunn Gudmundsdottir

      Pages 129-145

   5. Coda: Aide de memoire or aide d’oubli: Forgetting with Photographs

      • Gunnthorunn Gudmundsdottir

      Pages 147-168

5. Back Matter

   Pages 169-188

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This book primarily focuses on the concept of forgetting, with particular emphasis on how we can trace the forgotten in contemporary life writing and memory texts. It consists of two main parts: the first concentrates on life writing in particular and what the author calls “scenes of forgetting”; the second examines both fiction and autobiographies that deal with questions of collective memory/forgetting. The book’s principal aim is to map methods and strategies writers employ when writing the forgotten – it argues that forgetting is a constant companion in any memory text and plays a decisive role in the memory work performed in the texts. The main theoretical objective is to examine carefully the connection between collective memory and personal memory, by drawing from two disciplines at once: memory studies and theories on life writing. By considering both areas of research, the conclusions of this study are able to feed into both theoretical perspectives. 

• forgetting
• life writing
• memory
• autobiographies
• fiction
• collective memory
• collective forgetting
• personal memory
• Online self-expression
• essay
• history
• India
• memory studies
• nation
• writing

“It is theoretically sophisticated, invoking most important thinkers on the complications of forgetting. It is a useful book for anyone researching this topic. It introduces readers to texts with national but not international prominence, including works from Iceland, Norway, and Spain. … Nevertheless, this is a big book on forgetting, and it will draw the attention of anyone doing work in the field.” (Ellen G. Friedman, Biography, Vol. 41 (2), 2018)

• University of Iceland, Reykjavik, Iceland

  Gunnthorunn Gudmundsdottir

Gunnthorunn Gudmundsdottir is Professor of Comparative Literature at the University of Iceland and holds a PhD from the University of London, UK. Her research interests include life writing, memory studies, photography and writers’ autobiographies. Among her publications on life writing is the book Borderlines: Autobiography and Fiction in Postmodern Life Writing. 

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