The other side of the story

When people chose to share stories with me during my fieldwork, in the Australian Central Desert community of Alpurrurulam, it was common for the story to be prefaced with the idiom 'I'm gonna give you that story'. These sorts of statements emphasize the relationship between myself and the speaker, pointing to the unique nature of the stories I was given. I was not regarded as a passive listener in this context, but rather I, as a particular person, helped to shape the narratives of the past that were shared with me. We all share our memories in significant ways with the world around us. It is the case across cultures that we learn to remember with, around and through engaging with people. In this, culture plays an important role in shaping the ways that people remember, recall and recount their lives. This article will look at the interdisciplinary and intercultural challenges which face the re-telling of tales in memory studies from the perspective of the listener and, in the case of researchers, the reporter.