Autobiographical memory and autobiographical narrative: What is the relationship?

In this contribution I discuss the link existing between autobiographical memory and autobiographical narrative and, in this context, the concept of coherence. Starting from the Bruner’s seminal concept of autobiographical self, I firstly analyze how autobiographical memories and autobiographical narrative influence each other and, somehow, mirror reciprocally and then I present some results of my previous studies using a methodology consisting in “narrating-transcribing-reading-narrating.” The results show that self narratives can have positive effects on the narrators if they are provided with a tool to reflect on their memories. Moreover these results show that autobiography in its double sides — that of memory and that of narrative — is a process of continuous construction but also that this construction is deeply linked to social interactions.