Memory and the Quest for Family History in One Hundred Years of Solitud

memory board and the Quest for Family History in One Hundred days of Solitude and Song of Solomon Pierre Nora proposes that the request for memory is the search for ones history (289). In their attempt to reconstruct the communal histories of their people, Toni Morrison and Gabriel Garca Mrquez rely heavily on the use of memory as a means to rewrite the history of those oppressed because of race, class and/or gender in a world where historiography has been dominated by the white man. Memory is closely related to the reclamation of identity and history -- both personal and collective. Both memory and history dominate Cien Aos de Soledad (One Hundred Years of Solitude) from the very beginning, where the character Aureliano Buenda is introduced through his own recollections Muchos aos despus, frente al pelotn de fusilamiento, el coronel Aureliano Buenda haba de recordar aquella tarde remota en que su padre lo llev a conocer el hielo (9) / Many years later, as he faced the firing squa d, Colonel Aureliano Buenda was to remember that distant afternoon when his father took him to discover ice (9). same Garca Mrquez, Toni Morrison claims memory -- as well as imagination -- as an essential part of the narrative act The act of imagination is skip over up with memory. You know, they straightened out the Mississippi River in places, to make room for houses and livable acreage. Occasionally the river floods these places. Floods is the word they use, but in fact it is not flooding it is remembering. retentivity where it used to be. All water has a perfect memory and is forever trying to get back to where it was. Writers are like that Remembering where we were, what valley we ran through, what the banks were like, the light... ...tive belles-lettres Courses. Approaches to Teaching Garca Mrquezs One Hundred Years of Solitude. Mara Elena de Valds and Mario J. Valds. New York The Modern Language Association of America, 1990. 21-32. Parkinson Zamora, Lois. The Usable med ieval The Idea of History in Modern U.S. and Latin American Fiction. Do the Americas Have a Common Literature? Ed. Gustavo Prez Firmat. Durham Duke UP, 1990. 7-41. Pierce, Robert N. Fact or Fiction? The Developmental Journalism of Gabriel Garca Mrquez. Journal of Popular Culture 22.1 (1988) 63-71. Ricci Della Grisa, Graciela N. Realismo Mgico y Conciencia Mtica en Amrica Latina. Buenos Aires Fernando Garca Cambeiro, 1985. Strouse, Jean. Toni Morrisons disconsolate Magic. Newsweek (30 March 1981) 52-57. Watkins, Mel. Interview with Toni Morrison. New York Times Book Review (11 September 1977) 50.