Intersubjective Embodied Memory and Imagination

Abstract

In this presentation, I first argue that memory and imagination can be intersubjective not only accidentally, but also in a fundamental and originary sense, intersubjective, from the beginning. Second, I claim that this is particularly true of embodied memories, i.e. past experiences that left traces in the person’s body or behavior rather than what is reminisced as psychological content. Embodied memories are acted out or made public directly in the body of the person and in consequence they are fundamentally intersubjective, often function as (part of) interpersonal strategies and as something that publicly defines the individual. Such embodied intersubjective memories are what Bourdieu described a long time ago as 「em」 habitus /「em」.