Abstract

Within a sociological framework, the concept of memory is detached from its privileged link to consciousness and a concept of body memory is developed as it is effective in social processes. As a first step, some principles and distinctions of a sociology of memory are outlined. As a second step it is necessary to analyse the processing of the present into generalized forms of experiences, remnants, which can be used for recollections. As a third step, the process of integrating these remnants of the past into the present processes of meaning construction is analysed. After building such a conceptual scaffolding for memory, a notion of body is delineated, differentiated into four layers with reference to classical sociological texts. The conclusion is made by interweaving the different threads of body memory, which operates in social processes, thereby including all four layers of the body.