Do you want to know, how to write a memoir about your life? How to write memoirs without looking like a fool? How to remember the events of your life? How to correctly present all this in the correct sequence?

“To restore oneself through memories means to be resurrected by uniting oneself in the present with oneself in the past.”
Lev Karsavin.

If you have already decided to write your own memoirs, but do not know where to start, then this article is just for you. Well, if you still don’t know why write memoirs, then read.

Where to start writing memoirs

Firstly, it should be understood that memoirs- this is not an autobiography, in which the narrative begins from birth and sequentially passes through the entire “life calendar”. In memoirs, this sequence is not an axiom, although some orderliness is needed. You can simply take some significant piece of your life and build your memoirs on it.

Many people turn to their childhood as the most mysterious and interesting topic for memoirs. The difficulty is that few people remember their own childhood in such detail that they could write at least a couple of pages of text about it. But that's just how it seems.

In fact, you just haven’t remembered your childhood for a long time. Once you start, you can be captured by such a powerful wave of memories that it’s enough for more than one notebook. Family albums with photographs, old letters, diaries, music and video recordings and, of course, stories from your relatives will help you here.

And also the Internet! Yes Yes. You can find a lot of useful reminders of the past here. Now on many forums and social networks there are sections and groups where visitors post a lot of pictures and nostalgic memories from the Soviet past. Here are children's toys of that time, industrial goods, food products, and much more.

Looking through these materials, you may suddenly remember that this is exactly the toy you had in your childhood, and the sight of kefir bottles with a foil cap or chewing gum “Well, wait a minute” for 15 kopecks may lead you to long-forgotten memories that you just and would never remember.

Secondly, it is very useful to read already published memoirs as an example. Find Memory Speak by Vladimir Nabokov, or In Search of Lost Time by Marcel Proust, or My early years» Winston Churchill. You shouldn’t be embarrassed by the fact that they were great writers, but your writing at school only got C grades or worse. You don't have to become one of the greats. But there is a lot to learn from them. At least just to be inspired.

Thirdly, you should find some key, very significant moment in your past, from which you can take a trip down memory lane. Start remembering it in all possible detail and writing it down in a draft.

Perhaps, at the same time, you will begin to remember more early events, are also very significant for you. Write them down too. You can draw a mind map using this as a basis key event. This is a very good help, which can serve as a kind of plan for you to write a subsequent detailed text.

It's a start, what's next?

Suppose you have found a suitable key moment in your life and have begun to write down memories of it, even if it is still rather chaotic. How to make it so that later it all looks more or less like a book, and not like a collection of incoherent passages that no one but you will be interested in reading.

Any fiction must have a plot. It is the plot that draws in the reader and arouses his interest in further reading. No plot - no interest.

In the case of memoirs, everything is exactly the same. You need to link all your memories into some related plot. The difficulty is that at the very beginning of taking notes, this plot is not always visible even to you. You simply write down your memories, not knowing in advance what else will pop up in your memory.

Therefore, build storyline in memoirs, it makes sense from about the middle of the story or even at the very end, when you yourself come to certain conclusions and results. You may even want to rewrite everything again, shuffling the memories and arranging them in a completely different order.

Of course, in your narrative there should be some bright, anchor events, conflicts that you either managed to resolve, or they left a noticeable imprint on your life. This piques the reader's interest. If everything is written down smoothly, without any outbursts of emotional waves, then reading it will be unbearably boring even for you.

Therefore, do not spare emotions and do not hesitate to write them out in all colors. After all, you are writing the book of your life. So let it be bright!

“Memories are magical clothes that do not wear out from use.”
Robert Stevenson.

As with any successful endeavor, there must be a certain method to writing a memoir. If, on a wave of enthusiasm, you “remembered” a cart and a small cart in one evening, quickly wrote it all down, and then abandoned it for a month or two, then later you are guaranteed to have to start all over again. It will be very difficult to start from the same place where you left off last time.

Therefore, it is better to write at least a little, but every day, or every other day or two, but do not give up this activity for a long time.

Many people may be put off from the idea of creating memoirs by the fact that they need to allocate time for remembering and subsequent writing, but there is not enough of it anyway. Take an example from the famous writer Julia Cameron. She often writes in fits and starts, when Everyday life I have a free minute or two.

You can go about your daily activities and at the same time remember something from your past by making short notes in a notebook, on a smartphone or laptop, or even just on paper napkins or on any piece of paper. To do this, you don’t need to allocate any special time, lock yourself in a strict office with an oak table and a table lamp a la “Serious Writer”.

What can you write in your memoirs?

The truth! Memoirs are not fiction. First of all, it is a truthful description of events that took place in the past, and the author’s thoughts about these very events, his attitude towards them, the emotions, thoughts and conclusions associated with them.

Moreover, the word “truth” means that you will not describe yourself only with positive side, but also tell us without concealment about some negative aspects. Life consists not only of successes, but also of failures. When you talk about them, you inspire trust in the reader.

Do not use passive constructions and clericalisms in the text. It's just mega-boring! Passive designs are an official style that smacks of bureaucracy.

Examples of passive constructions: “tasks were completed,” “problems were solved,” “the work was done,” etc. Instead, use active constructions: “I completed the task,” “we solved the problem,” “I did this work.”

Stationery- words and figures of speech that also came from the official style of business papers. These are all kinds: is, is taking place, was in the state that, this, called, should, according to, in case of, in connection with, due to the fact that, despite the fact that, due to the fact that, namely, as well as, etc.

Use as little as possible difficult words, definition words, very long words or very rare words (obsolete). You may consider this to be a decoration of the text, but the reader will not understand this, or will think that you are just showing off.

Describe events in a specific environment, not uncertainties hanging in the air. If this event took place in a cafe, give a brief but comprehensive description of the decoration of this coffee shop and its customers. This will immerse the reader in a specific environment and make them feel the atmosphere of the space.

Use sensory descriptions rather than simply: oak table, red lamp, fat waiter. Instead write: the rough surface of an oak tabletop, the soft and mysterious light of an old red lamp, a fat and clumsy waiter, “smelling” of sour soup, in a dirty, crumpled apron.

The reader must experience it all for himself. Therefore, use more words that describe specific sensations - visual, auditory, tactile, olfactory and gustatory.

In addition, in memoirs it is quite acceptable and even encouraged to use metaphors, quotes, dialogues and other literary embellishments, as long as they are appropriate and fit into the overall outline of the narrative. Not only will they add variety to your text, but they will also add some flair, which is always a hit with readers.

How to finish a memoir

Any good (read interesting) story has a beginning and an end. Your memoirs too. They cannot be left halfway unsaid. You may not be able to draw any vital conclusions yourself, but the story must be brought to its logical conclusion. If the story is still ongoing, then your memoirs are not finished yet and will be supplemented with new materials over time.

When you finish writing, reread everything from beginning to end and “drain water” along the way. This means that it is necessary to eliminate from the text everything that is unnecessary, not essential, or is written in too florid and detailed. If these ornateness and details do not reveal the essence of the matter, then they are clearly useless.

It is very easy to check the text for “water”: you read the sentence, see a dubious word in it, delete it and check whether the meaning and essence of the sentence has been lost. If not, then the word was indeed superfluous.

You check a paragraph of text in the same way. If any sentence in it is superfluous, then away with it! And you do the same with the paragraphs themselves, mercilessly removing them from the text.

After all these heroic efforts, you have to take an equally heroic step - give the memoirs to your closest friends and family, whom you trust, to read. Thus, you pursue two goals:

1. Check how interesting and informative your story is (based on reviews);
2. Check how complete the information is presented.

The second point may lead you to want to supplement your memoirs with information that your first readers will provide you with. Perhaps you yourself could not remember something, but it turned out to be significant. You may have made a mistake in your memories, and your friends can help you correct this.

Anyway, Feedback needed. So don't be shy about asking people to read your writing and give that feedback.

Go for it!

If you liked the article, please rate it and share on social networks:

Igor Levchenko. Writer, blogger, photographer. Psychologist by training, storyteller by vocation. Life credo - everything happens at the right time!

Comments:

Tatiana
19.10.2016

I've been thinking about writing my own memoirs for a long time. Thank you for useful tips!)

Maria Dmitrieva
18.12.2016

Curious! I always thought that memoirs were something purely for writers, not for ordinary people. I don't know if I would like to write my memoirs. Maybe in the future.

Igor Levchenko
19.12.2016

Maria, everyone comes to this in their own time :)

Svetik
26.01.2017

I haven’t thought about memoirs yet, but I’ve been keeping a diary since I was 10 years old. I have already accumulated a whole box)) Maybe in the future they will be useful to me for my memoirs. Thank you for this article!))

Igor Levchenko
26.01.2017

The diary is just a great helper in this matter! I even envy you a little :) I started keeping my notes only in adulthood.

Vyacheslav
27.01.2017

Igor, have you already written your memoirs? :)

Igor Levchenko
07.03.2017

Vyacheslav, I’m writing little by little :)) This process is long and very interesting. The more you remember, the more new memories come that you had completely forgotten about. We have to correct something, add something. So everything is in progress.

Yuri
07.03.2017

More than 20 years ago, I began to think... how to present my life correctly and accurately, without moralizing... from the baby home to graduation... I started writing several times..., I gave up, I started again, the desire remained, but the “enthusiasticism” was no longer there. In the article, Everything is explained so clearly..Thank you!

Igor Levchenko
07.03.2017

Please, Yuri! With age, enthusiasm is replaced by pragmatism. To start doing something again, you just have to start, without any enthusiasm and any expectations. Interest will appear in the process. I do this myself all the time. Sometimes I have absolutely no desire to write, but the habit has already developed, so I just sit down and write. And gradually, if not enthusiasm, then just interest in working further appears. That's how we live:)

Yuri
08.03.2017

Thank you. Good luck!

Igor Levchenko
11.03.2017

Thank you, Yuri! And you too! :) If you have any questions, I will be happy to help

Natasha
10.05.2017

In the synopsis of an autobiographical story (for the publisher), is the description given in the third person? Thank you.

Igor Levchenko
10.05.2017

Natasha, that’s right, they usually write in the third person in the synopsis.

Alexander
13.10.2017

I’ve thought about writing my memoirs many times, but I don’t feel like writing, I’ve been writing all my life, at work, letters, analytical notes, theses, etc. I would like to dictate. M.b. anyone will help. but I want to call it this: Fortune Telling.

Igor Levchenko
13.10.2017

Alexander, everything is in your hands! :) If you write a lot yourself, then you are unlikely to like how another person will describe your life. You will constantly see shortcomings either in the style or in the presentation of the material. In addition, memories are a tricky thing; something new always pops up as you write.

Valentina
10.12.2017

I wrote a book. I re-read it. It became sad and offensive. Deleted. Now family and friends are increasingly reminding us that it’s time to get back to this business. I don't want to write under my own name. How to keep incognito? I don’t want to show my memoirs to my family. Why do they need to know the painful details of my life? How do people even find a publisher?

The section is very easy to use. Just enter the desired word in the field provided, and we will give you a list of its meanings. I would like to note that our website provides data from different sources– encyclopedic, explanatory, word-formation dictionaries. Here you can also see examples of the use of the word you entered.

Meaning of the word memoirs

memoirs in the crossword dictionary

Explanatory dictionary of the Russian language. D.N. Ushakov

memoirs

memoirs, units no, m. (fr. mеmoires).

Literary work in the form of notes about past events, of which the author was a contemporary or participant (lit.).

One of the names of printed works of scientific institutions (obsolete).

Explanatory dictionary of the Russian language. S.I.Ozhegov, N.Yu.Shvedova.

memoirs

Ov. Notes, literary memoirs about past events made by a contemporary or participant in these events. Military m.

adj. memoir, oh, oh. M. genre.

New explanatory dictionary of the Russian language, T. F. Efremova.

memoirs

A literary work that narrates in the form of notes on behalf of the author about past events in which he was a participant or witness.

Encyclopedic Dictionary, 1998

memoirs

MEMOIRS (French memoires - memories) is a type of documentary literature, a literary narrative of a participant in social, literary, artistic life about events and people of whom he was a contemporary. Wed. autobiography.

Memoirs

(French mémoires, from Latin memoria ≈ memory), memories of the past, written by participants or contemporaries of any events. Created on the basis personal experience their authors, but meaningful in accordance with their individuality and socio-political views of the time when M. was written. The main source of information for M. is the authors’ memories of their experiences, but along with them, various documentation, diaries, letters, the press, etc. are sometimes used. M. often represent literary works and constitute special genre, a variety of which are autobiographies and travel notes (see Travel). Some M. are outstanding works of art(“Confession” by J. J. Rousseau, “The Past and Thoughts” by A. I. Herzen). Memories are often used as a means of political and ideological struggle (“Thoughts and Memoirs” by O. Bismarck; “Memoirs” by S. Yu. Witte and others), and reactionary historical figures sometimes resort to distortion of the truth. M. are also historical sources, because they reflect the events of political and military history, cultural life, life and customs of society, etc. The value of materials for historical science is determined by their specificity and ability to reflect the author’s personal attitude to the events in which he participated. But M.’s subjectivity and bias complicate the researcher’s work.

Works close to M. were known in antiquity (Anabasis by Xenophon, Notes on the Gallic War by Julius Caesar). The Middle Ages produced a number of works (mainly in the form of chronicles, biographies, and lives of saints) similar to M. and containing records of what the author saw. The emergence of M. in modern understanding associated with the Renaissance, with awareness of historical significance human personality, individual experience. In the 18th-20th centuries. A large memoir literature, varied in form and comprehensive in content, has developed. The authors of M. are most often political and military figures, cultural and scientific workers. In Russia, the appearance of M. dates back to the 17th century. (“The Life of Archpriest Avvakum”, etc.), their flourishing as literary genre begins in the 18th century. After the Great October Revolution socialist revolution, in connection with the democratization of culture and other areas public life, various layers are involved in the creation of M. Soviet people. Much M. is dedicated October revolution 1917 and Civil War 1918≈20, Great Patriotic War 1941≈1945 and other important events in the history of the USSR. Writing M. requires from their authors truthfulness, accuracy, and clarity of class assessments. In the USSR, M series are published: “Military Memoirs” (Voenizdat), “About Life and About Oneself” (Politizdat), “ Literary memoirs"(Publishing house fiction).

Lit.: Mintslov S. R., Review of notes, diaries, memoirs, letters and travels related to the history of Russia and published in Russian, v. 1≈5, Novgorod, 1911≈12; History of Soviet society in the memoirs of contemporaries, vol. 1≈2 (v. 1≈2), M., 1958≈67; Cardin V., Today is about yesterday. Memoirs and modernity, M., 1961; Chernomorsky M.N., Work on memoirs while studying the history of the CPSU, 2nd ed., M., 1965; Kurnosov A. A., Techniques of internal criticism of memoirs, in the book: Source Studies. Theoretical and methodological problems, M., 1969; Golubtsov V.S., Memoirs as a source on the history of Soviet society, M., 1970; Ginzburg L. Ya., On psychological prose, Leningrad, 1971; Source study, history of the USSR, M., 1973.

A. A. Kurnosov.

Wikipedia

Memoirs

Memoir literature, memoirs- notes from contemporaries, telling about events in which the author of the memoirs took part or which are known to him from eyewitnesses, and about people with whom the author of the memoirs was familiar. An important feature of memoirs is the claim to the reliability of the reconstructed past and, accordingly, to the documentary nature of the text, although in reality not all memoirs are truthful and accurate.

Memoirs are not identical to autobiography and chronicle of events, although in everyday life these concepts can be used as synonyms. The memoirist tries to comprehend the historical context own life, describes his actions as part of the general historical process. In autobiography (for example, “Confession of an Opium Smoker”, “Confession” by Rousseau), the emphasis is on the inner life of the author and on the development of his personality. Memoirs differ from chronicles of contemporary events in their subjectivity - in that the events described are refracted through the prism of the author’s consciousness with his own sympathies and dislikes, with his own aspirations and views.

Many memoirs were written by individuals who played a prominent role in history (Winston Churchill, Charles De Gaulle, Catherine II). They can cover a significant period of time, sometimes the entire life of the author, connecting important events with the small details of everyday life. In this regard, memoirs serve as a historical source of paramount importance. However, memoirists, not always consciously, try to present themselves to their descendants in a favorable light, to justify their failures, which inevitably raises the question of the reliability of what is stated before the historian. For example, the popular ideas about Cellini as a rare trickster and Casanova as an irresistible rake go back exclusively to their memoirs and are not confirmed by other historical sources.

Examples of the use of the word memoirs in literature.

Value memoirs Annenkov is that they help us feel the atmosphere of the ideological struggle around Gogol, although the nature and severity of this struggle is not always correctly revealed by the author. Having great literary merits, Annenkov’s works resurrect portraits of many of the most prominent participants in social and literary movement of his time, against a broad background of which the image of Gogol is recreated.

This trait memoirs Annenkova received a positive assessment from Chernyshevsky.

All this must be remembered when reading memoirs Annenkov, since they not only record what was seen and heard, but are at the same time an attempt at a critical understanding of Gogol’s personality and creativity.

In the preface to his memoirs, published in the USA, Deputy Secretary of State Talbott frankly admits that Mr. Arbatov has been a friend of America since the 70s.

In my quiet Arensburg I may still have time to write memoirs and several articles on the history of German raiding.

I repeat, Atka’s last name is memoirs is not named, otherwise why would I drag out this whole long chain of assumptions and conclusions in front of you?

I thought about Atka immediately, as soon as I found it in memoirs fascist German submariner mention of a Russian translator.

Zhukov the unreasonableness of repressions in his memoirs also reinforces high percentage proletarian commanders, people from workers and peasants, as well as the Bolshevization of the army.

If Esterhazy had fled to England or America and sold there, as he sometimes threatened to do, his memoirs and diaries, the whole world would one day learn the full extent of the crimes of the French general elite: the fact that they convicted Dreyfus without guilt, and the fact that they knew who exactly was the author of the bordereau, and the fact that the secret document that convinced judges, was a fake, planted with their knowledge in the deliberation room of the court.

Prince Dolgoruky informed him about the suppression of the Bulavin uprising, Romodanovsky - about the Streltsy rebellion, Sheremetev, Repnin, Golitsyn, Apraksin wrote laconic letters to the office memoirs about how they fought against the Swedes.

At the same time, local legends are also a most valuable historical source, although they are subject to verification and comprehension, like the chronicle, epic, memoirs.

These words of Chekhov come to mind when I begin to write memoirs, so unlike ordinary ones. memoirs.

But the German Gelerter wrote two thick volumes to prove that memoirs The Casanovas are a very reliable historical source of the eighteenth century.

These were the years of his painful relationship with Tuchkova and the endless family conflicts, meanwhile, even the name Tuchkova does not appear in memoirs.

Getting ahead of events, I will say that with the German edition memoirs Grabin nothing came of it.

Memoirs

(from the French mémoires - memories), a literary narration by a participant in social, political, literary and artistic life about events, witnessed or actor whom he was, about the people with whom he came into contact. Memoirs are a type of documentary literature and at the same time one of the types of confessional prose (autobiography, confession), adjacent to historical prose, essay, biography. Memoirs can contain the memories of an ordinary person about his “ordinary” life, conveying the flavor of a certain era, thoughts, feelings, attitudes and expectations of “average” people of a particular time, of a particular social, age, psychophysiological or age status. In this regard, memoirs belong to genres bordering between literature proper and everyday letters and diaries not intended for publication.
The origin of memoirs is associated with the memoirs of Xenophon (c. 445 - c. 355 BC) about Socrates and the “Notes on the Gallic War” of Julius Caesar (100 or 102-44 BC). In further literature, “The History of My Disasters” (1132–36) by P. stands out. Abelard, « New life" (1292) Dante, “Poetry and truth from my life” (1811-33) I.V. Goethe, “Confession” (1766-69) J. J. Rousseau, “Ten Years in Exile” (unfinished, published in 1821) J. de Stael; in Russian literature - “The Past and Thoughts” (1855-68) by A.I. Herzen, “Captured Work” (1921-22) V. N. Figner, “People, Years, Life” (1961-65) I. G. Ehrenburg, trilogy by V.P. Kataeva“Holy Well” (1966), “The Grass of Oblivion” (1967), “My Diamond Crown” (1978); “On the Banks of the Neva” (1967) and “On the Banks of the Seine” (1983) by I. V. Odoevtseva, “Through the Eyes of a Man of My Generation” (published 1988) by K. M. Simonova, “A calf butted with an oak tree” (1990) A.I. Solzhenitsyn. A special place among memoirs is occupied by notes and memories of prominent statesmen, including the Russian Empress Catherine II, the head of the English government during the 2nd World War, W. Churchill. Stable features of the genre: factuality, eventfulness, retrospectiveness, immediacy of the author's judgments, picturesqueness, documentary. An indispensable property of memoirs is their subjectivity in the selection of facts, in their coverage and evaluation; common technique artistic characteristics– portrait. Memoirs are an irreplaceable source of information about the events of the past, tastes, morals, customs, a system of aesthetic and spiritual values, and an important tool for literary, socio-historical and cultural studies. Memoirs in their “pure” form can be identified with works of fiction of a memoir nature (“ Pedagogical poem", 1933–1936, A. S. Makarenko), often with “encrypted” characters (“My Diamond Crown” by V.P. Kataev). There are known hoax memoirs (the fake “diary” of the lady-in-waiting of the last Russian Empress A. A. Vyrubova). In the 20th–21st centuries. memoirs in the form of memoirs, sketches, fictional dialogues, polemics “retroactively”, diary entries etc. – one of the most relevant genres. In Russia, this is the so-called “camp” literature, which carries not only the truth about the tragic pages of the latest national history, but also a powerful charge of social and political exposure: “Steep Route” (1967-80) by E. S. Ginzburg, “The Gulag Archipelago” (1973) by A. I. Solzhenitsyn, “Plunge into Darkness” (1987) by O. N. Volkova, " Kolyma stories"(1954-73) V.T. Shalamova etc. Memoirs include collective collections of memories, united either by the commonality of the authors (profession, age, nationality, biography, ideological, artistic and aesthetic affinity), or by the object of the memories (memories of contemporaries about A.S. Pushkin, memories of participants literary movement imagism).

Literature and language. Modern illustrated encyclopedia. - M.: Rosman. Edited by prof. Gorkina A.P. 2006 .

Memoirs

MEMOIRS- fr. word, notes from contemporaries about memorable events in which they took direct personal part, or known to them from eyewitnesses. As historical materials and documents, notes have more or less significant value based on the significance of the events described, the accuracy, reliability, detail and picturesqueness of the information reported, and depending on the personal characteristics of the author of the notes. Very often memoirs shed light on the personality of their compiler. Representing a living combination of everyday real details of living life with material of scientific significance, memoirs have long been one of the favorite departments of historical reading, and more than once memoirs have been published with the names of prominent persons that turned out to be forged. Classical antiquity knows Xenophon’s wonderful memoirs about Socrates and the author’s notes about his Asia Minor campaign (Anabasis) and Julius Caesar’s notes about the war in Gaul, which in form are an imitation of Xenophon, but drier. In some historical literature different countries We find an immense amount of memoirs, starting from the Middle Ages, and private notes often shed light on entire eras that are not sufficiently illuminated by other materials. There is an extensive bibliographical work on Russian memoirs by S. R. Mintslov, “Review of notes, diaries, “memoirs,” Novgorod, 1911-12, 5 issues. See Memories.

V.Ch. Literary encyclopedia: Dictionary literary terms: In 2 volumes / Edited by N. Brodsky, A. Lavretsky, E. Lunin, V. Lvov-Rogachevsky, M. Rozanov, V. Cheshikhin-Vetrinsky. - M.; L.: Publishing house L. D. Frenkel, 1925

Synonyms:

See what “memoirs” are in other dictionaries:

- (French, from memoire memory). 1) notes from an eyewitness about the events. 2) notes of learned societies. Dictionary foreign words, included in the Russian language. Chudinov A.N., 1910. MEMOIRS notes from contemporaries about events and persons having historical meaning,… … Dictionary of foreign words of the Russian language

Cm … Synonym dictionary

Memoirs- MEMOIRS fr. word, notes from contemporaries about memorable events in which they took direct personal part, or known to them from eyewitnesses. As historical materials and documents, notes have more or less significant... ... Dictionary of literary terms

memoirs- ov, plural mémoire m. memory. 1. unit and many more Essay, article. As for the sent... memoirs about the artillery of M. de Remy, I will refer to the fact that I already reported about this the other day. 1731. Tatishchev to Schumacher. // T. Zap. 148. Dissertation on... ... Historical Dictionary Gallicisms of the Russian language

memoirs- MEMOIRS, autobiography, memories, notes... Dictionary-thesaurus of synonyms of Russian speech

- (French memoires memories), a type of documentary literature, a literary narrative by a participant in social, literary, artistic life about events and people of whom he was a contemporary... Modern encyclopedia

- (French memoires memories) a type of documentary literature, a literary narrative by a participant in social, literary, artistic life about events and people of whom he was a contemporary. Wed. autobiography... Big Encyclopedic Dictionary

- (write, read) memories. Wed. I recently read this in the memoirs of a poet. Boborykin. Corpse. 2. Wed. Mémoire (memoria) memory, notes, memorial record. Wed. Memini, I remember... Michelson's Large Explanatory and Phraseological Dictionary (original spelling)

MEMOIRS, memoirs, units. no, husband (French mémoires). 1. A literary work in the form of notes about past events in which the author was a contemporary or participant (lit.). 2. One of the names of printed works of scientific institutions (obsolete). Intelligent... ... Ushakov's Explanatory Dictionary

memoires), memories- notes from contemporaries telling about events in which the author of the memoirs took part or which are known to him from eyewitnesses. An important feature of memoirs is the emphasis on the “documentary” nature of the text, which claims to be authentic to the past being recreated.

Memoirs differ from chronicles of modern events in that in them the author’s face comes to the fore, with his sympathies and dislikes, with his aspirations and views. Very often by individuals who played a prominent role in history, sometimes covering a significant period of time, such as the entire life of the author, often connecting important events with the minutiae of everyday life, memoirs can be historical material of paramount importance.

The Oldest European Memoirs

Classical antiquity knew only two authors of memoirs - Xenophon and Caesar. France was considered the true birthplace of memoirs in the 19th century. The first experiments in this area date back to the 13th century. Villehardouin's naive notes on the Latin Empire still stand on the border between memoirs and chronicles, while Histoire de St. Louis“ (about ) is rightfully considered an example of historical memoirs.

France (XVI -XIX centuries)

The number of memoirs especially increased during the era of the revolution (memoirs of Necker, Besanval, Ferrier, Alexandre Lamet, Lafayette, Madame de Stael, Campan, Barbara, Billot-Varenna, Dumouriez, Madame Roland, Mirabeau, Mounier, Barera, Camille Desmoulins). Even executioners, for example, Samson, wrote memoirs then.

Many of the memoirs of that era that appeared with the names of famous figures are fraudulent. This kind of forgery was widely practiced by Soulavie, whose collections have therefore been superseded “Collection des mémoires relatifs à la revolution française”(30 vols., Paris, 1820-1830) and some other publications.

Even more numerous are memoirs dating back to the Napoleonic era. Almost all of Napoleon's generals and many other people left notes. Especially great importance have memoirs of Bignon, O'Meara, Constant, Lavalette, Savary, Duchess d'Abrantes, Marmont, Eugene Beauharnais, Madame de Remusat, Talleyrand.

Later, memoirs were written by Carnot, Broglie, Chateaubriand, George Sand, Guizot, Marmier, Edmond de Goncourt and Jules de Goncourt.

England

Rich in memoirs and English literature, in which they, however, acquire significance only from the era of Queen Elizabeth and even more from the time of the internal wars of the 17th century. For the reign of Charles I, the memoirs of James Melville and the Scotsman David Craford are of particular importance. The most important works of this kind are collected in the edition of Guizot, “Collection des mémoires relatifs à la revolution d’Angleterre”(33 vols., Paris, 1823 et seq.).

Of the memoirs of later times, the most outstanding are the notes of Bolingbroke and Horace Walpole. In England, as in France, the literature of memoirs has reached end of the 19th century centuries of dimensions barely visible.

Germany

Poland

Russian memoirs

In Russian literature, a number of notes begin with “The History of the Book.” Great Moscow about the deeds that we have heard from trustworthy men and that we have seen in our eyes,” the famous Prince Kurbsky, which has the character of a pamphlet rather than history, but important as an expression of the opinion of a well-known party.

The Time of Troubles gave rise to a whole series of narratives from contemporaries and eyewitnesses of the Troubles, but with a few exceptions, these works cannot be considered simple-minded records of what was seen and heard: in almost all the legends there appears either a biased point of view, or influences from which the simplicity and truthfulness of the author’s testimony suffers. Not to mention the works that appeared even before the end of the Troubles (the story of Archpriest Terenty), journalistic features are not alien to the two largest narratives about the Troubles - Vremennik by Ivan Timofeev and “The Tale of the Siege of the Trinity-Sergius Monastery” by Abraham Palitsyn. In both works, the desire to expose the vices of Muscovites prevails. society and with them explain the origin of the unrest; Depending on such a task, there is a lack of chronological connection, gaps in factual testimony, and an abundance of abstract reasoning and moralizing.

The later works of eyewitnesses of the Troubles, which appeared under Tsars Mikhail and Alexei, differ from the earlier ones in their greater objectivity and more factual depiction of the era (“Words” by Prince I. A. Khvorostinin, especially the story of Prince I. M. Katyrev of Rostov, included in Sergei’s chronograph Kubasov), but in them the presentation is often subordinated either to conventional rhetorical devices (notes of Prince Semyon Shakhovsky, dating back to 1601-1649), or to one general point of view (for example, the official one - in the manuscript attributed to Patriarch Philaret and depicting events from 1606 until the election of Michael as Tsar).

Therefore, as historical source have higher value those few works that deviate from the general literary template and do not go beyond a simple, ingenuous presentation of events. This is, for example, the life of the teacher. Dionysius, Archimandrite of the Trinity-Sergius Convent, which in 1648 - 54. was written by Trinity cellarer Simon Azaryin, and the cellarer from Moscow added his memories. Dormition Cathedral Ivan Nasedka (cf. S. F. Platonov, “ Old Russian legends and stories about troubled times as a historical source", St. Petersburg, 1888; the texts of the legends are printed. by him in the published archaeographic book. commission " Historical library", vol. 13). The works of Kotoshikhin, Shusherin (life of Nikon), Avvakum (autobiography), and Semyon Denisov bear the character of notes or personal memories.

Peter I

Alexander II

Of the numerous memoirs about the era of Alexander II, the notes of N.V. Berg (on Polish conspiracies), Count Valuev, N.S. Golitsyn (on the abolition of corporal punishment, in “Russian Antiquity”, 1890), A.L. Zisserman are of particular importance (Caucasian memories, in the “Russian Archive”, 1885), Levshin, Count M.N. Muravyov, P.N. Obninsky, N.K. Ponomarev (“Memoirs of the mediator of the first call”, in “Russian Antiquity”, 1891, no. 2), N. P. Semyonova, Y. A. Solovyova, gr. D. N. Tolstoy-Znamensky.

Literary Memoirs

Literary memoirs of the 19th century are very numerous. These are the notes of S. T. Aksakov, P. V. Annenkov, Askochensky, Bodyansky (in the “Collection of the Society of Lovers of Russian Literature”, 1891), N. P. Brusilov (in “Historical Vestn.” 1893, No. 4 ), Buslaeva, book. P. A. Vyazemsky, A. D. Galakhov (in “Historical Vestn.” 1891 No. 6 and 1892 No. 1 and 2), Herzen, Panaev, Golovacheva-Panaeva, Grech, I. I. Dmitrieva, V. R. Zotov (“Historical Vestn.”, 1890), M. F. Kamenskaya, Kolyupanova, Makarova,