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The extended self is the realization that we live across time, and we understand that we can reminisce about the past, repeat past occurrences and foresee future ones, all whilst staying in the present (Eakin 104).

Eakin and identity/reliability:
Eakin seems to view memory as a contributor to the process of creating an identity and that narratives to some degree mirror the self, but seems wary of giving too much credit to past recollections, considering humans’ memories are susceptible to the impact of time and their varying perceptions.
Eakin underlines that memory is not always accurate. As “our representations of reality – literary, psychological, neurological ” can be put in varying contexts and be combined with different emotions, they are “dynamic and constructed rather that static and mimetic in nature” (107), which explains that memories can change over time. Here, the readers are given the example of a child who had created a memory by acquiring different pieces of knowledge, “through the family stories […] the fairy tales […] through stories she learned to put together for herself” (122), illustrating how a person’s imagination is able to distort a memory and create a false identity. A simple “she was not herself today” (126) could change how we perceive ourselves through the eyes of others, and that while narratives are connected to a functioning identity, they might as well “turn pathological and destroy it” (130)

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Spider: Social memory, the house burning?

Exograms is about facts and absolute truths, which would be interesting to think about in terms of pictures in Memento and The Photograph.

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Fun Home:
- hypernarrativia

Memento:
- dysnarrativia

Spider:
- dysnarrativia caused by schizophrenia?

Remains:
- unreliable narrator, presentation of him as dignified butler is more important

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Schacter in relation to the primary texts

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Schacter in relation to the primary texts

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Spider:
- trying to make sense of how he ended up in the mental institution
Remains of the day:
- he tries to justify his choices in life. he has made a lot of sacrifices to stay in his occupation, so he wants to prove that he made the right choice.

Fun Home:
- looks at the same events from different angles (with different agendas?)
- unreliability (unreliable 'rememberer')

Memento:
- unreliable narrator
- he shapes the narrative in his favor

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- Subjectivity and experience

- Our memories are based on how we experienced the events, not necessarily what happened

- What we remember from an event is tied up to our purpose and goal when remembering:

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Memory is both fragile and powerful; it is fragile in the sense that it can be reshaped, weakened, or erased completely by factors such as injury, disease, time, new knowledge, and experience, but it is also powerful because it is essential to our identity and our ability to function in society.

He notes that “we cannot separate our memories of the ongoing events of our lives from what has happened to us previously “ (Schacter, 5). This needs to be taken into consideration when looking at the entire novel, recognising whether a memory is likely to be quite representative of an objective reality, or whether Bechdel’s subjective experience and retrospective analysis of a memory has changed its accuracy. While memory is typically reliable, it can “sometimes deceive us badly” (7). Unlike “computer files that are placed in storage and pulled out when needed” (4), the human brain is susceptible to error and subjectivity. Schacter points out that memories should be seen as records of past experiences, rather than perfect replicas (6). The subjective experience of each individual of past events is believed to play a role in the process of memory consolidation, and memories are no longer believed to be passive recordings of the past (5).

Schacter reminds us that one cannot exclude the possibility that a memory will have changed over time, or that human error can completely falsify what one believes to be the truth’; “We hear disturbing reports of false traumatic memories in therapy patients [and] read strange stories of people who vividly recall alien abductions” (Schacter, 3). Most of our memories are at least partially reliable, such as our unconscious knowledge of how to operate a car or play the piano. They contribute to the formation of our selves, our personal identity and self-awareness, “everything we do or say depends on the smooth and efficient operation of our memory systems” (Schacter, 2). Memory influences how we relate to other humans around us, how we communicate, how we navigate in the world and interact with beings and objects around us. Humans use memories to function every single day, and the amount of information stored in our brains is astonishing. It influences how we perceive others, which is why an autobiography like Fun Home needs to be checked for issues such as self-characterisation and subjectivity.

Schacter uses several important concepts tied with memory and the act of retrieving memory. Two concepts he uses are semantic memory and procedural memory, which are two of the brain’s major memory systems. Semantic memory is explicit memory and the part of the brain that stores conceptual and factual knowledge. Procedural memory is implicit, long-term memory that allows a person to acquire skills and from habits (Schacter, 1996, p. 17).

Schacter also uses the terms field and observer memories, where the former refers to memories where the subject sees himself or herself in the memory, while in the later the subject revisits the memory through his or hers own eyes (Schacter, 1996, p. 21). Research has proved that more emotion is connected to observer memories, whereas field memories can feel more emotionally detached (Schacter, 1996, pp. 21-22).

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Social memory: Our memories are affected by our surroundings and environment, social context.
Said in another way: everything that transports and communicates the past and interpretations of the past in a non-intentional manner. This includes records, cultural products, spaces and interactions (286-288).
Autobiographical memory: a functional system integrating the following memory systems, as postulated by the neurosciences: procedural memory, priming, perceptual memory, sematic memory and episodic memory (290)