Fragmented Memory and the Construction of Identity in Contemporary Fiction

Abstract

This paper examines how fragmented memory contributes to the construction of personal identity in contemporary fiction. It focuses on literary characters whose understanding of themselves develops through incomplete memories, suppressed experiences, and nonlinear recollections. Drawing on narrative theory and memory studies, the paper analyzes how temporal disruption, repetition, and shifting perspectives represent the unstable relationship between memory and identity. It argues that fragmented narration is not merely a stylistic technique but a means of demonstrating how individuals reconstruct their identities after loss, displacement, or trauma. The study also highlights the role of storytelling in connecting past experiences with present consciousness. It concludes that contemporary fiction presents identity as an ongoing narrative process rather than a fixed or unified condition.