Memory disorders and the extension of the postmodern‭ ‬fictional‭ ‬boundary

Dr. Hana Saliba-Salman

Memory is a mental faculty that plays an evolutionary role in the survival and development of the human race. The omnipresence of memory in our lives becomes evident if we consider how it affects our self-perception, the perception of others, our surroundings and the universe. It even shapes the means of communicating with others, as it is responsible for the development of linguistic abilities. On a larger scale, memory is nonetheless involved in the process of shaping collective identity.

Considering these aspects of our lives, among others, in which we depend on memory, we are tempted to take it for granted, until we encounter an instance of memory failure, which we would rather forget as well. The duality of this mental faculty; in its contribution to our survival next to its failures and limitations, makes it a ready mechanism for postmodern art to deconstruct. As cases of memory disorders grow popular in postmodern literature and cinema, most notably insomnia, amnesia and dementia, there seems to be a correspondence between the state of memory disorder and that of living in postmodern culture. While the postmodern shifting of emphasis to the narratives of eccentric and off-centre subjectivities partially explains the popularity of this genre, I rather suggest that the state of memory disorder becomes the ultimate metaphor to articulate the postmodern experience, on both individual and collective level. In this essay, I intend to explore how Paul Auster conjures up different types of memory disorders in his novel, Man in the Dark, published in 2008, in order to articulate its metafictional nature and the decentred individual and collective experience in a postmodernist America.