The Art of Making Memories

A Reflection on the Relationship between Individual Memory and Oral History

Mohya Hafezi
Translated by: Fazel Shirzad

2025-4-30

The book “The Art of Making Memories” is written by Meik Wiking, a Danish researcher and director of the Happiness Research Institute in Copenhagen. At first glance, this book may fall into the field of positive psychology or quality of life studies; but upon closer inspection, it can be seen as a work that fundamentally transforms our understanding of “memory,” “time,” and “personal narrative.” This is precisely where the book becomes a valuable read for activists and those interested in oral history. The author begins the work with a fundamental question: Why do some memories stick in our minds and others do we forget? In order to find the answer to this question, he examines a series of psychological, biological, cultural, and phenomenological concepts. Meanwhile, “memory” is introduced not simply as a mental phenomenon, but as a dynamic, selective, and meaningful construct. This definition sits precisely on the basis on which oral history relies.

In oral history, personal memory is not considered a secondary and subsidiary source, but rather a valuable historical document in itself. An individual’s narrative of their lived experience is not simply a retelling of events, but rather a crystallization of the way of living, understanding, and interpreting a specific historical period. From this perspective, the book contains key points for analyzing and understanding oral history narratives.

In this book, the author identifies eight components or “keys” for the permanence of memories, which are: attention, emotion, repetition, the five senses, firsts, meaning, place, and social connection. These factors, in the structure of the human mind, increase the chance of a moment becoming permanent. Now, if we follow these elements in oral history conversations, we find that many of the interviewees’ vivid memories are highlighted precisely by these elements.

For example, many interviewees in oral history remember events that were accompanied by strong emotions such as fear, excitement, love, or sadness. Or, for example, first experiences such as the first night after the war, hearing the radio for the first time, the first encounter with a new ideology or thought, etc. often have a vivid place in their memory. This point makes us aware that individual memory is selective and is formed based on the intensity of sensory and emotional involvement, not simply on the basis of time or the external importance of events.

On the other hand, the author’s emphasis on social connection in the formation and continuation of memories is tied to “conversation,” which is another pillar of oral history. In the interview process, the individual not only recounts a memory, but also reconstructs it. The moment a memory is expressed, it is reshaped, polished, and recorded in a collective narrative. The book shows that memory does not simply remain in the mind, but comes to life in the act of communication.

The book’s emphasis on the five senses and physical elements such as smell, sound, or space also leads us to the sensory dimensions of oral history, where the quality of the voice, the local tone, or even the location in which the interview takes place can affect the depth of the narrative and the power of the narrator’s recollection.

The book begins with a publisher’s note, and then the author discusses his reasons for writing it in a fairly detailed preface. The book then continues in 8 chapters, and the chapter titles are: The Power of First Times, with All the Senses, Attention to Detail and Focus, Creating Memorable Moments, Persistence of Emotions, Peaks and Struggles, Stories to Prevent the Forgetting Curve, and Finally, Consigning Memories to Cyberspace.

In addition to being an inspiring book for living more consciously and meaningfully, this work also provides a way for oral history researchers to properly understand memories, memory choices, and the processes of constructing and reconstructing lived narratives. Reading this book can contribute to the theoretical and methodological richness of oral history interviews and raise new questions about the nature of memory and the representation of the past in the human mind.

The book "The Art of Making Memories" was published by Shamaduni Publications in 184 pages, with a Persian translation by Kazem Zeinali, in 1000 copies in the spring of 1403, and was priced at 170,000 Tomans (Iranian currency).