Spatial images in collective and autobiographical memory and their therapeutic use

This article examines the role of space in collective and autobiographical memory through a close engagement with Maurice Halbwachs’s work. After presenting the theory of memory as reconstruction in dialogue with Walter Benjamin and discussing the relationship between individual and collective memory through Paul Ricoeur’s interpretation, the article analyzes space as one of the central frameworks of memory. This role derives both from the analogy between orientation in space and orientation in memory, explored by Mary Carruthers in her study of medieval ars memorativa, and from the concrete function of space in the everyday practices of groups, as reflected in their collective memories and revealing a narrative organization of space (de Certeau). Through the experience of physical or represented space, individuals can adopt a group’s perspective and reconstruct its collective memory. The final section discusses two videotherapy practices that make use of spatial images, highlighting their therapeutic potential.