Exploring self through memory: Narratives of Punjabi and Sindhi Partition survivors

Abstract

The reciprocal association between working self and autobiographical retrieval is illustrated in the self-memory system model. This study attempted to investigate the self-memory system model in the context of memories of the 1947 Partition of British India. This event, which dramatically altered the lives of many survivors, generated indelible memories. In this study, the published Partition narratives of displaced Punjabi and Sindhi survivors were content analyzed, and themes were extracted. The working self of the Partition survivors triggered recall of this event, whose evaluation varied along three dimensions, namely, avoidance, rumination, and reflection. The theme of repression was central to avoidance narratives. Furthermore, rumination narratives were marked by nostalgia and a sense of alienation. Finally, the themes of cognitive reappraisal, self-complexity, and self-discrepancy resolution surfaced in reflection narratives. The emerging research findings highlight the centrality of emotion regulation in autobiographical retrieval and its implications for well-being.