Absent Memories: An Autobiographical and Methodological Dilemma

This chapter explores the concept of ‘absent memory’, from the wider perspective of social forgetting. However, the primary concern here is with the micro understanding of absence existing within the participant’s everyday lives and how they deal with such absences in their identity work. Using several examples, the author demonstrates how absence exists as an autobiographical default for those with care experience. The chapter continues to explore how this same absence can be a methodological concern for memory researchers. ‘Absent Memories: An Autobiographical and methodological dilemma?’ concludes with an argument for a better understanding of how people with care experience cope with and build experience around the gaps in their lives.