Homes as memory boxes: a cognitive approach to understanding attachment to possessions

Abstract

The article presents a review and analysis of collecting as collecting things of a certain type, discussed in a wide range of this practice, from compulsive accumulation to collecting works of art and museum collections. Furthermore, there are people who store and collect things related to their experiences and intentions. I designate this type of gathering as idiocentric gathering and explore the motives of their keepers. Claiming that collecting is one of the psychic manifestations, this study uses a theoretical approach that encompasses discussions (including in-depth interviews and focus groups) about the relationship of human being and thing, memory and self. A cognitive perspective and ethnosemantic analysis are used to evaluate the collected data. I argue that idiocentric collecting is a way of connecting the past and the future, providing the custodians with a sense of continuity and connectedness in time and space.