Introduction
All through the course, we learned about how the focal subject of our healthy identity depends on recollections and how without memories, we do not have a clue about our personality and cannot consequently comprehend how to make a daily existence or review a personal satisfaction. For this final project, I decided to use personal examples of scent, object, and photographs to prove the importance of memory in our psychology and self-identification.
O’Keane writes that the scents that we grew up with and embedded in our culture are the main foundations of the senses that we own. The physical object that is relevant and relatable to making me who I am today is a necklace that I have carried with me since I was thirteen years old with the soil of Çanakkale, Turkey. It reflects my family’s history and demonstrates part of my cultural identity.
The second personal example is the object category that I utilized to represent my successful career in soccer. It brings me back to my memories of playing as a soccer player in Met Oval and how it helped me overcome my struggles. This artifact is the personification of my contribution to identity formation. Lastly, I chose to share a family picture of my Grandfather, sister, and cousin from when I was ten years old visiting my Grandfather’s house, the village of my mother’s hometown, Krichim, Bulgaria. This artifact is the family story that is an essential part of my identity.
These memories and artifacts are consistent with the ideas discussed in the books by Hemon, Nabokov, Pamuk, and O’Keane, which foregrounds the choice of these sources. For instance, I was inspired by the idea for this museum project by describing the small personal museum provided by Pamuk. The books by Nabokov and O’Keane show how the artifacts should be interpreted. Hemon and O’Keane, in their turn, write about the importance of the particular place in memory formation that becomes part of the personality with time. Therefore, three mnemonic artifacts that reflect the last moments of my life unite my physical sensations, family history, and cultural identity in general, which makes them complex.
Discussion
People construct their identity using material things and surround themselves with objects that connect with their past. It is possible to compare these objects to the links that tie the personality together, making the individual’s past, present, and future unified. Nabokov reflects on this topic in the essay Man and Things, where he discusses the importance of things that serve as decoration, reminiscence, and comfort in people’s lives. Everything that humanity creates is the “thing” from the philosophical point of view, and it acquires meaning when interacting with a particular individual (Nabokov 3). For example, the dropped coin means nothing for one person, while another individual might find the meaning in this coin, thinking that it is a sign of good luck. Therefore, as the author writes, the “relationship is slippery” when people discuss the connection between the object or the thing and the human (Nabokov 3). In general, every person gives their special meaning to the object, making it valuable and unique.
The example of the museum of personal things connected with the history of the family and own story is a vivid example of the thoughts articulated by Vladimir Nabokov. The artifacts that are connected with my football success illustrate this hypothesis. I have a collection of medals and football-related things that I gathered from my childhood years, and they reflect my personal development and path as a football player. In addition, my progress as a football player reflects my story of immigration, my relationships with my family and friends for many years. These objects are valuable to me now because they are the physical representations of my reminiscence.
Soccer Accomplishments
Growing up as a kid in Istanbul, I had a great childhood. I was always the kid gathering all the kids together in the neighborhood to go out and play. At the same time, the school was significant and I had to show my mom I had completed my homework before stepping outside the house. We lived in a safe neighborhood where sometimes I would be playing until late evenings. I am happy to have shared playing in the school team with my schoolmates and won my very first trophy and graduated from middle school with the Istanbul U-12 championship. In the summer of 2010, after graduating from middle school, I moved with my family to the United States, and the trophy hunter in me continued winning soccer league championships and tournaments.
These trophies and medals remind me of all the hard work I had put into my passion. It reminds me of my teammates, the genuine camaraderie on the soccer team I played in. I am grateful to be part of Met Oval. We had multiple trips to upstate each season to compete for state championships and indoor tournaments during winter. This team was crucial in adapting to life in New York. I remember coming to the U.S at the age of 13 to find no friends and no one to call, and it was a big struggle to overcome. I was used to having Ozcan as my next-door neighbor, Berent on the fourth-floor next apartment, Baris down the yellow block building.
Joining the soccer team has helped me stay connected and not be afraid to start learning to adjust. One memory that brings me chills to this day is when I attended a tournament during the coldest days of winter 2012 in Poconos, Pennsylvania. In this particular event, my family was able to come with me to this 2-day tournament. On the first day of the tournament, I sprained my left wrist after a horrible tackle made by a fellow player on the opposing team. Despite all the pain overnight, the next day we went to the finals, and I wanted to play, so with an ice gel pain reliever and wrist brace, I had an outstanding performance, and we won the final with my last-minute goal. These are the memories I will keep forever.
Necklace
Some scents influence our behavior, psychology and the creation of our identity. When the smell is connected with the memory, it can help the person travel through years and miles to experience a particular moment one more time. A scent that I proudly carry with me physically and emotionally is a necklace with the soil of Çanakkale. It is a city in northwestern Turkey that is the gate to enter through Dardanelles; more than a hundredth year ago, a combination of many nations under the flag of the United Kingdom tried to enter the Turkish mainland with the hope of invading. They did not notice that the commander of the Ottoman army was Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, who was probably the most successful person whose actions were revolutionary not only for Turkey but also for many other countries. He was a prominent leader whose story was closely connected with my homeland in all cases. Therefore, the chance of knowing how this region was defended uniquely against the Royal Navy has always been such a proud feeling for me that brings me back home to my childhood.
“Proustian Moment” is an unexpected and clear memory of the past that you are familiar with, set off by a smell. According to chapter five of A Sense of Self, the smell of cut grass summons the memory of youth, summer, and family getting together on the imaginary insula in human memory and represents a particular moment for the person (O’Keane 83-84). In other words, people use the scent as the key to the memory of their past, which facilitates their reminiscence. About ten years ago, I visited the whole war zone and picked up a handful of soil from the ground where about five hundred thousand men sacrificed their lives. The smell of this soil kept me thinking about this region with all my respect to those defenders of the mainland of Turkey. This experience correlates with the idea described by O’Keane in the book.
The scent of the homeland and the soil from the place where the family’s history started is one of the most popular romantic ideas. Though, it does not lose its meaning because every individual has a personal connection to their homeland. As O’Keane claims, the notions of the place and the space, in general, are not entirely synonymous because the idea of space has a more general connotation (O’Keane 92). My experience and artifact with the soil from Turkey illustrate this idea because it is the particular place and my homeland in general that combines the story of the nation and my path. I was raised in a collectivist culture in Turkey during my childhood and integrated both cultures. I gained from the individualist culture of living in New York City for the past twelve years, and I am just like many individuals who have immigrated, reminiscing about my country by having an object like this necklace that I got from Çanakkale—smelling the soil of my homeland, which has a glorious history, culture, and people.
Family Picture
The third artifact I decided to share is a photograph of my Grandfather, who passed away soon after that picture was taken. My mother is Bulgarian, and she grew up in Krichim, Bulgaria. During my childhood, we would visit Krichim every summer. In this picture, it was my cousin’s birthday, and that was one of the last nights that I remember with my Grandfather, whom I have had the privilege of having exciting and adventurous memories. He was such an influence in me in becoming the man I am today. He was the one who made me build some of the hobbies I own, such as fishing, hunting, driving a motorcycle, and being a family-oriented person.
Individuality is shaped by various factors, details, and influences, and it is impossible to determine one major thing that forms the personality. O’Keane wrote in her book A Sense of Self that reminiscences have the power to influence people emotionally, to trigger those feelings that seem to be hidden deep inside the human heart and memory (O’Keane 133). Looking at this picture, I can return to those days and feel reunited with my peaceful childhood and my loving Grandfather while feeling motivated to do better because I want to make my Grandfather feel proud.
The place has a special significance in the story of my life and my memory, as the mnemonic artifacts I chose to show. Hemon writes in the book The Book of My Lives about his experience of moving from Sarajevo to Chicago at the age of twenty seven. He was an adult man when he changed the country, and Bosnia, with its history, war, and culture, had a significant impact on forming his identity. He claims that immigration is not only the movement from one place to another; it is always the transformation of the inner self that is the complicated process (Hemon 18). The author emphasizes the division between the notion of “us” and “they,” referring to people who stayed in their home country (Hemon 18). I can relate to these thoughts because my personal story is connected with the change of places, immigration, and several places I can call my home. Though, the personal connection with my relatives and my family’s history makes the homeland of my mother closer to me.
It is critical to remember the past and find your keys to the memories. The format of the museum allows people to see the elements of daily life and personal history that might seem insignificant from the first moment (Pamuk 2-3). The book The Museum of Innocence is the story of people who lived in Istambul during the described time, and the collection of minor details makes the narration personal. The artifacts I gathered for my museum collection represent the moments that are valuable to me, and other people might not see the meaning that I ascribe to them. Though, they might look at these objects and understand my personal story better because there are emotions and life behind these things.
Conclusion
There are three mnemonic artifacts in my digital museum collection that are valuable to me. They reflect my path, the story of my family, and the history of my homeland. Physical objects revive emotions, scents, and personalities that are only alive in my memories, making them unique. The complexity of human memory allows me to recall the moments of my past and associate the objects with other times, places, and people who were part of my personality formation.
Works Cited
Hemon, Aleksandar. The Book of My Lives. Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2013. Incorporated, W. W., 2021.
Nabokov, Vladimir. Man and Things. Page Tuner, 2019.
O’Keane, Veronica. Sense of Self: Memory, the Brain, and Who We Are. Norton & Company, Pamuk, Orhan. The Museum of Innocence. Vintage, 2010.