The Remembering Self: Construction and Accuracy in the Self-Narrative

by Ulric Neisser (Editor), Robyn Fivush (Editor)

Overview

The contributors to this book bring a surprisingly wide range of intellectual disciplines to bear on the discussion of self-narrative and the self. Using the ecological/cognitive approach, The Remembering Self relates ideas from the experimental, developmental, and clinical study of memory to insights from postmodernism and literature. Although autobiographical remembering is an essential way of giving meaning to our lives, the memories we construct are never fully consistent and often simply wrong. In the first chapter, the authors consider the so-called false memory syndrome in this context; other contributors discuss the effects of amnesia, the development of remembering in childhood, the social construction of memory and its alleged self- servingness, and the contrast between literary and psychological models of the self.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780521087919
Publisher:	Cambridge University Press
Publication date:	12/11/2008
Series:	Emory Symposia in Cognition , #6
Pages:	316
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 8.90(h) x 0.80(d)

Table of Contents

1. Self-narratives: true and false Ulric Neisser; 2. Literary and psychological models of the self Daniel Albright; 3. The remembered self Jerome Bruner; 4. Composing protoselves through improvisation Craig R. Barclay; 5. Mind, text and society: self-memory in social context Kenneth J. Gergen; 6. Personal identity and autobiographical recall Greg J. Niemeyer and April E. Metzler; 7. Constructing narrative, emotion, and self in parent-child conversations about the past Robyn Fivush; 8. Narrative practices: their role in socialization and self-construction Peggy J. Miller; 9. Emotionality and narrative in the emergence of the self-concept Rebecca A. Eder; 10. Is memory self-serving? Wilem A. Wagenaar; 11. Creative remembering Michael Ross and Roger Buehler; 12. The remembered self and the enacted self Alan Baddeley; 13. The authenticity and utility of memories Eugene Winograd; 14. The remembered self in amnesics William Hirst; 15. Perception is to self as memory is to selves Edward S. Reed.

Editorial Reviews

"...brings a wide range of disciplines to bear on the self-narrative and the self...relates ideas from the experimental, developmental, and clinical study of memory to insights from postmodernism and literature."
—International Journal of Psychology


"All the chapters are interesting; many are absorbing and provocative. It is a treat to read a book when its arguments are presented with such zest and clarity."
—John A. Robinson, Contemporary Psychology


"...an admirable book on the self-narrative...truly covers the relationship between memory and self. One of its major strengths is the fact that the contributors do not, necessarily, always agree with each other about this relationship. Such opinion and counteropinion is refreshing and allows informed readers to reach their own conclusions about the processes involved and the ramifications of self-narrative...an interesting and informative treatise on self-narrative...recommended for graduate students and researchers/faculty."
—R.E. Osborne, Choice


"This book presents a clear focus on a topic of great importance to researchers and clinicians. It should point the way to further research and theory development....This work is a valuable contribution."
Harris Chaiklin, Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease

From the Publisher