How memory works through things: memory objects in Phyllis Alesia Perry’s Stigmata

Abstract

The protagonist of Phyllis Alesia Perry’s Stigmata inherits a trunk containing a journal, a quilt and a very old piece of fabric. These memory objects are more than what they first seem: they enable the protagonist to access certainmemories that accompanied their creation. These memories gradually result in bodily transformations witnessed by other characters, including wounds and scars. In this way, memories evolve from being internalized and invisible to being shockingly visible. Perry’s novel deals with postmemory and intergenerational traumatic haunting in African American communities, but it is also a tale about the need for memory to circulate through objects. The memory objects are presented as magic talismans which offer glimpses and sensations of the past. Progressively, they turn into fetishes, in the sense that they own Lizzie, instead of being her possessions. In the end, the protagonist manages to liberate herself from their influence, and makes a new memory object of her own. Perry’s narrative deals with good and bad uses of memory. The protagonist’s survival depends on her capacity to overcome the duty of memory so that her future is not annihilated by the pull of the past. Lizzie does not only need to learn about her family’s past, she also has to refashion the lethal links which tie her to the inherited objects.