In relation to our research project about the memories of Al-Andalus and the narratives that youth with a Morrocan background in Spain construct about this shared past, we seek to theorize about travelling memories. In our cultural psychological view on memory, this means articulating the relation between individual (particularly, autobiographical) memory and collective memory, as a situated constructive process mediated by narratives. In this vein, in asking how changes in memory occur, we consider not only top-down transformations shaped by social frames of memory, but also bottom-up shifts emerging from individual experiences that extend beyond these frames. We will also reflect on and develop the notion of transcultural memory. This concept from the field of memory studies aims at capturing the dynamics of memory across perceived cultural borders, recognizing that both the narrative means for remembering and the remembering agents are not confined to one single nation, narrative and identity. What, or rather who, is, or rather is not, transcultural? To what degree is transcultural memory, articulating several narratives and perspectives, an activity allowing for a multiplication or transformation of our views on the past and, by extension, the present and future? Two tensions are important to take into account in answering this question: between socio-politically dominant narratives and alternative narratives, and between implicit versus explicit memories. Even though a great variety of alternative narratives is produced, they do not seem to have the same impact as master narratives, indeed they do not hold the same power. Moreover, dominant narratives, like national histories and their schematic narrative templates, operate on an implicit level. Only when made explicit they can be critically reflected upon. Whereas alternative narratives often arise in the explicit attempt to make other possible experiences visible and this does not guarantee their incorporation as implicit frames for looking at the past. How can generating alternative narratives that cross boundaries impact and change collective memories that are dominated by the very narratives establishing these boundaries? We think that addressing travelling memories can significantly contribute to theorizing as an act of sociopolitical transformation. Interviewing transcultural memory agents, our project might just shed some light on the ways in which this can be done.

Research project “Más allá de la narrativa maestra española: Memorias colectivas dominantes y alternativas entre jóvenes transculturales,” with reference number SI4/PJI/2024-00157, is funded by the Comunidad de Madrid through the agreement to foment and promote research and outreach at the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid.