Postmemory

noun

noun ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    A relationship that people of subsequent generations bear to the trauma of their forebears, which they cannot directly remember but rather know through stories, imagery, and behaviour. uncountable, usually

    "In my reading, postmemory is distingushed from memory by generational distance and from history by deep personal connection."

Example

More examples

"In my reading, postmemory is distingushed from memory by generational distance and from history by deep personal connection."

Etymology

Coined by Marianne Hirsch. From post- + memory.

More for "postmemory"

SynonymsSentencesPronunciationTranslate

Next best steps

Find stronger synonymsSee usage examplesCheck pronunciationBrowse writing guides

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.