Past Memory

In Trauma and Memory, bestselling author Dr. Peter Levine (creator of the Somatic Experiencing approach) tackles one of the most difficult and controversial questions of PTSD/trauma therapy: Can we trust our memories? While some argue that traumatic memories are unreliable and not useful, others insist that we absolutely must rely on memory to make sense of past experience. Building on his 45 years of successful treatment of trauma and utilizing case studies from his own practice, Dr. Levine suggests that there are elements of truth in both camps. While acknowledging that memory can be trusted, he argues that the only truly useful memories are those that might initially seem to be the least reliable: memories stored in the body and not necessarily accessible by our conscious mind. While much work has been done in the field of trauma studies to address "explicit" traumatic memories in the brain (such as intrusive thoughts or flashbacks), much less attention has been paid to how the body itself stores "implicit" memory, and how much of what we think of as "memory" actually comes to us through our (often unconsciously accessed) felt sense. By learning how to better understand this complex interplay of past and present, brain and body, we can adjust our relationship to past trauma and move into a more balanced, relaxed state of being. Written for trauma sufferers as well as mental health care practitioners, Trauma and Memory is a groundbreaking look at how memory is constructed and how influential memories are on our present state of being.

Karin Tilmans is an historian, and academic coordinator of the Max Weber Programme at the European University Institute, Florence. Frank van Vree is an historian and professor of journalism at the University of Amsterdam. Jay M. Winter is the Charles J. Stille Professor of History at Yale. --

This book examines the character and relevance of remembrance, inviting readers to think creatively and deeply about the ways that memories are transmitted, recorded, and distorted through time and space. Ranging from molecular genetics and astrophysics to law and Indigenous oral histories, the essays draw from a diverse group of contributors to capture different perspectives on memory. Reflecting upon memory in engaging and unexpected ways, this collection offers an interdisciplinary roadmap for exploring how, why, and when we remember.

Past memory, what is a past memory? There are lots of individuals that do have memories that each just wants to forget about. My whole past has been a memory I want to forget. Andy Bliss who is a young man being raised in a western state that is of Arizona. Andy Bliss's life story shares true inspiration and true motivation for what people need. Life shouldn't be tied down to a situation that is centered around weakness rather than strength. Andy Bliss's story talks about struggling with life and overcoming depression and anxiety as well as staying positive and optimistic about a life that is much brighter than darker. Andy Bliss advice on life is always something meant for the purpose of to spread positive and to be inspirational for others in this life. Sometimes forgetting about the past, especially when there is hurt, just makes the memories much more unforgettable. Andy Bliss's hurt is really unthinkable to imagine. Some will feel sorry while others will just treat someone more a victim than a victor. Andy Bliss shares his past life memories in a way that is more realistic but also uplifting. No person's past should at all be ignored. Andy Bliss's past is by far a story worth telling. Sometimes saying forget the past and not let it affect you when really it does affect a person. It did affect Andy Bliss's life.

This book looks at the memory of the communist past in Central and Eastern Europe, with a particular focus on Bulgaria: its “official” memory, constructed by institutions, its public memory, molded by media, rituals, books and films and the urban environment, and the everyday or ‘vernacular’ memory. It investigates how the recent past is remembered and the circumstances upon which this memory is conditioned - how is communism/socialism construed as a public recollection? Do these processes differ in the distinct post-communist countries? The book’s first part traces the institutional and political dimensions of coping with the communist past and the second part concentrates on personal reminiscences and vernacular memory. The book will be of interest for researchers and students in the fields of memory studies, Central and East European studies, oral history and contemporary history, as well as for specialists at institutions of memory and memory activists and organisations.

This book discusses a number of ways in which the dialogue about Europe’s past and future could be rendered more inclusive, such as the promotion of critical and sentimental education and the creation of virtual and actual social spaces in which citizens and organised identity groups can participate. The discussion about European memory is far from being a “merely” symbolic issue with no political consequences. Imagining Europe and its past in different ways will lead to different real political outcomes. For instance, thinking about European integration as an embodiment of the values of the Enlightenment (such as human rights, liberal democracy, and reason), as a guarantor of peace on the continent, as a guarantor of prosperity, or as a guarantor that massive human rights violations like genocide will “never again” be committed on its soil, all entail different political objectives. Similarly, conflicting understandings of European memory as either a thing or a social construct, as either one memory or a plurality of memories, as either the end point of deliberation or a dialogical process, represent not merely inconsequential cultural “froth on the tides of society,” but crucially important issues with real political consequences. The book is intended to contribute to this discussion about the common European approach to the past (and thus to the future).

This book provides a fresh perspective on the familiar belief that memory policies are successful in building peaceful societies. Whether in a stable democracy or in the wake of a violent political conflict, this book argues that memory policies are unhelpful in preventing hate, genocide, and mass crimes. Since the 1990s, transmitting the memory of violent pasts has been utilised in attempts to foster tolerance and fight racism, hate and antisemitism. However, countries that invested in memory policies have overseen the rise of hate crimes and populisms instead of growing social cohesion. Breaking with the usual moralistic position, this book takes stock of this situation. Where do these memory policies come from? Whom do they serve? Can we make them more effective? In other words, can we really learn from the past? At a time when memory studies is blooming, this book questions the normative belief in the effects of memory.

Tense Past provides a much needed appraisal and contextualization of the upsurge of interest in questions of memory and trauma evident in multiple personality and post-traumatic stress disorders, child abuse, and commemoration of the Holocaust. Contributors examine the historical origins of memory in psychiatric discourse and show its connection to broader developments in Western science and medicine. They address the new links between trauma and memory, and they explore how memory shapes the way traumatic events are put into narrative form. They also consider the social and political contexts in which sufferers speak and remember.