Filling in when memory fails: the use of stories in Portuguese American memoirs

The focus of this article is to see how stories create a structuring function in three Portuguese American memoirs. The article will also explore the use of stories as a way to weave together the gap between memory and inherited memory (Hirsch, 2012). The article will argue that the stories used produce texts that carefully choreograph between inherited family stories and inherited cultural memories, producing a layering effect. The article will conclude that the inclusion of collective memories within the individual memory present in the text creates a narrative community beyond the nation state(s). Keywords: Portuguese American memoirs, inherited memory, narrative community