Introduction

This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book explores the process of becoming an “autobiographical self”, a self with a coherent sense of a past that has led to the person he is today and hope to be tomorrow. It provides a sociocultural model of autobiographical memory that takes as its starting point that all human activity unfolds in everyday social interactions that allow for the expression and development of culturally appropriate forms of knowledge. The book focuses on research conducted with broadly middle class, ethnically diverse US families. It presents an ecological model of family narratives that locates individual autobiography within embedded layers of family stories, including stories of experiences shared across family members and across the generations, as well as more temporally extended family histories that inform individual autobiographies and influence one’s personal sense of self.