Table Of ContentRepresentations of Forgetting
in Life Writing and Fiction
Gunnthorunn Gudmundsdottir
palgrave macmillan memory studies
Palgrave Macmillan Memory Studies
Series Editors
Andrew Hoskins
University of Glasgow
Glasgow , United Kingdom
John Sutton
Department of Cognitive Science
Macquarie University
Macquarie , Australia
Aim of the series
The nascent fi eld of Memory Studies emerges from contemporary trends
that include a shift from concern with historical knowledge of events to
that of memory, from ‘what we know’ to ‘how we remember it’; changes
in generational memory; the rapid advance of technologies of memory;
panics over declining powers of memory, which mirror our fascination
with the possibilities of memory enhancement; and the development of
trauma narratives in reshaping the past. These factors have contributed
to an intensifi cation of public discourses on our past over the last thirty
years. Technological, political, interpersonal, social and cultural shifts
affect what, how and why people and societies remember and forget. This
groundbreaking new series tackles questions such as: What is ‘memory’
under these conditions? What are its prospects, and also the prospects for
its interdisciplinary and systematic study? What are the conceptual, theo-
retical and methodological tools for its investigation and illumination?
More information about this series at
http://www.springer.com/series/14682
Gunnthorunn G udmundsdottir
Representations of
Forgetting in Life
Writing and Fiction
Gunnthorunn Gudmundsdottir
University of Iceland
Reykjavik, Iceland
ISBN 978-1-137-59863-9 ISBN 978-1-137-59864-6 (eBook)
DOI 10.1057/978-1-137-59864-6
Library of Congress Control Number: 2016957728
© The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s) 2 017
The author(s) has/have asserted their right(s) to be identifi ed as the author(s) of this work
in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
This work is subject to copyright. All rights are solely and exclusively licensed by the
Publisher, whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifi cally the rights of
translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on
microfi lms or in any other physical way, and transmission or information storage and retrieval,
electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimilar methodology now
known or hereafter developed.
The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this
publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specifi c statement, that such names are
exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use.
The publisher, the authors and the editors are safe to assume that the advice and information
in this book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication. Neither the
publisher nor the authors or the editors give a warranty, express or implied, with respect to
the material contained herein or for any errors or omissions that may have been made.
Printed on acid-free paper
This Palgrave Macmillan imprint is published by Springer Nature
The registered company is Macmillan Publishers Ltd. London
The registered company address is: The Campus, 4 Crinan Street, London, N1 9XW, United
Kingdom
In memoriam
Guðmundur Georgsson (1932–2010)
and
Michael Sheringham (1948–2016)
A
CKNOWLEDGEMENTS
This study is a result of my long-standing research interest in memory and
literature. It has its roots in my fi rst book, B orderlines: Autobiography and
Fiction in Postmodern Life Writing (2003), where I devoted one chapter
to the workings of memory in autobiography. The serious work began
when I gave a paper on the subject of forgetting at a life writing confer-
ence at Kings College London in 2009, and there the encouragement
of Paul John Eakin provided another impetus for this book. He was also
kind enough to read an early draft of the fi rst part of this project, and I
thank him for his very helpful suggestions. A sabbatical spent in Barcelona
in 2010 introduced me to the memory debates in Spain, and was highly
instructive on the politics of forgetting and the crucial role fi ction can play
in unearthing the past and giving voice to what has been silenced. I had the
benefi t there of the assistance of Emma Martinell Gifre at the University
of Barcelona, where I had access to the library as well as the archive on the
Civil War, the Franco-era, and the transition in the Pavelló de la República.
I was also able to conduct parts of the research at The British Library, and
am thankful for Priscilla Sheringham for her generous hospitality, which
was a great help during my stays in the UK. The National and University
Library of Iceland’s effi cient interlibrary loan system provided crucial
access to material in the last months of research. The scholar’s retreat at
Snorrastofa, Reykholt, was an invaluable place of peace and quiet in the
last stages writing. I am also grateful to Barbara Törnquist-Plewa (Lund
University) for inviting me to take part in the COST-action ISTME (In
Search of Transcultural Memory in Europe) 2012–2016 which has pro-
vided many an inspiration, fruitful conversations, and stimulating talks on
vii
viii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
the subject of memory. Thanks are also due to Francisco Ferrándiz who
invited me to give a talk at the excellent permanent lecture series Rastros
y rostros de la violencia at the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC)
in Madrid in 2013. Some of the very early research was funded by an
Iceland Research Fund postdoctoral grant, and the University of Iceland
Research Fund also provided assistance. A research project I worked on
with Daisy Neijmann (University of Iceland) ‘Memory and Forgetting:
Ruptures, Gaps, and National Identity’ has fed into parts of this book and
was funded by EDDA-Centre of Excellence, University of Iceland. I am
grateful to Irma Erlingsdóttir and Valur Ingimundarson at the centre for
their support of that project. Daisy Neijmann read parts of this study and
I thank her for her very helpful comments and suggestions. Claire Boyle’s
(University of Edinburgh) reading of an early draft of my research into
online self-representation was also of great value.
Many others have provided (some perhaps unknowingly) support in
a variety of ways, and my thanks go to my colleagues in the programme
in Comparative Literature, as well as to Patrick Crowley, Fionnuala
Dillane, Svanhildur Óskarsdóttir, Úlfhildur Dagsdóttir, and Hólmfrídur
Matthíasdóttir, for all the conversations (accompanied by the occasional,
and vital, drink). Thanks also to my mother Örbrún Halldórsdóttir and
siblings Hrafnhildur Gudmundsdóttir, Örbrún Gudmundsdóttir, and
Halldór Gudmundsson for the regular (and invaluable) pats on the back.
My deepest thanks go to my husband Dagur Gunnarsson and our son
Flóki Dagsson for their patience, encouragement, support—and of course,
for all the jokes on forgetting.
As I was ever more concerned with memory in my research my father,
Gudmundur Georgsson, professor of neuropathology, was losing his at
an alarmingly rapid rate, eventually passing away when I was in the early
stages of the project. This work is dedicated to his memory, as his aca-
demic rigour and dedication, albeit in a very different discipline, as well as
his warmth and unstinting support, has been on my mind throughout as
a source of inspiration, not least in getting through the regular crises all
research projects run into. The book is also dedicated to the memory of
Michael Sheringham, professor of French, my former supervisor, mentor,
and great friend, who read the early plans for this book and provided con-
stant encouragement and inspiration throughout. Many of the ideas and
analyses in the study refl ect an ongoing discussion with his work, especially
with his inspiring thoughts on autobiography and the archive. He sadly
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ix
passed away just as I was completing this study, but I hope our conver-
sations live on in this book. I am forever grateful for the immeasurable
impact both men had on my life and work—they will not be forgotten.
Reykjavik Gunnthorunn Gudmundsdottir
March 2016
C
ONTENTS
1 Introduction: Writing the Forgotten 1
Part I Scenes of Forgetting in Life Writing 23
2 Forewords and Forgettings: Introductions and Preambles
in Autobiography 2 5
3 Forgetting and the Writing Moment:
Corrections and Family Archives 47
4 Forgetting Online: Self-representation
on Social Network Sites 69
Part II The Past Recovered 8 9
5 Excavating a Troubled Past: Spanish Memory Texts 9 1
xi
