Typologies of Memory and Forgetting among the Expatriates of Rabaul

In recent years considerable attention has been directed to memory and the relationships between memory and history, the past and the present. However, the related issue of forgetting remains misunderstood. The oral testimonies of three current and former expatriates in Rabaul--Julian Murphy, John Beagley and Jean Bourke--provide us with an opportunity to rethink some of the dilemmas of memory by focusing our attention on such issues as nostalgia, the passage of time, sensory memories, and place. Much of the research on memory in the social sciences is defined by a lack of engagement with medical writings on similar themes. Yet the possibilities for mutual interaction and exchange between the social and physical sciences are endless, enabling more in-depth studies and analysis of memory and forgetting.