Arta și/sau știința uitării
The Art and/or the Science of Forgetfulness

Summary/Abstract: The present article aims to review some of the most important theories on the phenomenon of forgetfulness, both at an individual and at a collective level. The research on forgetfulness and amnesia implies an approach that is complementary to that concerning memory and has to go beyond the mere psychological. Depending on the motivations that lie at the foundation of this act, we may speak of an ars or scientia oblivionis. Without claiming to exhaust the subject, we will talk about forgetfulness from the perspective of philosophy, that of psychology, ethnology, cultural history, semiotics and political science. We will outline some of the concepts used by different researchers that come from various disciplines, such as Paul Ricoeur, Marc Augé, Harald Weinrich, Umberto Eco, Daniel Schachter, Paul Connerton. Their theoretical positions suggest the necessity of an interdisciplinary approach to forgetfulness and amnesia, phenomena which, even though defining a core experience of humankind, still lack a coherent conceptual foundation.

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