Maël Renouard
MAËL RENOUARD is a philosopher and writer. He was awarded the prestigious Prix Décembre for his 2013 novella, La Réforme de l’opéra de Pékin (“The Reform of the Beijing Opera”), and, in 2016, published a philosophical account of life with the internet, Fragments d’une mémoire infinie (“Fragments of an Infinite Memory”).
The Submersion of Personal Memory
By Maël RenouardEvery time I write an account of some personal episode, it seems more impossible to rely on my memory alone. I need only attempt to describe a city neighborhood or cite a news item from the era in question, and I naturally resort to Google to hone or complete my memories. If it hopes to describe the twists and turns of a mind as accurately as possible, the literature of introspection, whether autobiography or psychological novel, ought now to mention the name Google every sentence or two.
