Cognitive Overload and the Documentary Mode in Maria Stepanova’s In Memory of Memory

<jats:p> This chapter examines the contemporary Russian writer Maria Stepanova’s autobiographical prose work <jats:italic>In Memory of Memory</jats:italic> ( <jats:italic>Pamiati pamiati</jats:italic> , 2017). Stepanova’s hybrid text depicts the author’s search for information about her family history over the course of the long twentieth century. The chapter considers three levels within the text: 1) documentary material, 2) literary narrative about the documentary project, and 3) meta-commentary on memory and the documentary process. The analysis applies insights from cognitive theory, arguing that <jats:italic>In Memory of Memory</jats:italic> builds a documentary mode into the reading process. </jats:p>