The request for a precise definition of memory would put any serious academic into difficulty. To provide a synthetic response, we could define memory as a marvellous mechanism, a means for taking us back in time. Memory is, therefore, a mental activity which connects us over time and gives a meaning to existence. Telling one's story, one's autobiography, signifies primarily taking stock of the state of one's own identity
it signifies communication, communicating who we are to ourselves and others. It means transforming the interior monologue into dialogue with the other
it means scanning and modulating our emotions through the representation of the events of our lives.