Blog Letters
3 minute read
Why Memory Needs Witnesses
A memory can be private. Its consequences rarely are.
In The Age of Names, memory is neither a filing cabinet nor a magical password. It is relational. Someone remembers a name; someone else corrects the story; a record survives because another person chose not to let it disappear.
That is why witnesses matter. A witness is not a flawless observer who owns another person’s experience. A witness is someone willing to remain answerable to what they saw, what they missed, and what another person says happened instead.
The work is not to possess a story. It is to keep another answer possible.