Wandering Virginia Woolf’s Home through Spatial Correlators of Autobiographical Memory

A Sketch of the Past

Abstract

This research is based on the argument that architecture, specifically some building elements, have effects of different qualities on the establishment of spatial memory. In this article, it is searched for the ways in which spaces urge movements and create spatial situations through certain building elements such as doors, windows, and staircases. Drawing on theories of memory and perception, it is suggested that the spatial situations provided by building elements play a significant role in the recollection of spaces in the autobiography. For exploring how the narratives of these building elements in literature may provide insights into the relations between memory and space, as a case study, it is resorted to an autobiographical memoir, named ‘A sketch of the past’ (1985) by Virginia Woolf written in 1939. The case study seeks the spatial correlators of autobiographical memory by framing a discussion on the co-functioning of memory, perception and experience. The text is deconstructed to explore how the establishment of space occurs through spatial situations. The findings are then evaluated through philosophy and theories of psychology on autobiographical memory. The transcribed spatial situations and remembered experiences engraved on the hypothetically constructed isometric drawing of Woolf’s childhood home, Hyde Park Gate 22, London and the qualities of spatial correlators in action are evaluated.