Coda

Martin Middeke

Christoph Reinfandt

pp. 194-205

in: Emily Keightley, Michael Pickering, The mnemonic imagination, Basingstoke, Palgrave Macmillan, 2012

Abstract

Our primary aim in this book has been to reconceive the relationship between memory and imagination. In doing this we have explored the diverse ways in which memory and imagination interact in people's negotiations of the past, from the casual engagement with a photograph of a loved one to the reception of collective pasts represented in popular film or literature. Through reconciling memory and imagination we hope to have provided new ways of thinking about certain difficulties and debates in memory studies. We also hope to have offered useful pointers towards improving our understanding of the mnemonically inscribed contours and fluctuating temporalities of everyday life. In this short tail-piece we want to reflect on the temporal modalities of the mnemonic imagination itself by thinking back over our examination of memory and imagination and where it has taken us, so considering what it offers to memory studies and what it suggests is needed from future research that is conducted in the field.