chapter 4
writing the future
Writing the Future explores the practice of writing memoirs or, as I argue, the anticipatory and future-oriented act of authoring recollection books, widely embraced by ordinary people in Goa. I contend that this practice functions, much like nostalgia and the space of Mr Baker, as a mechanism for coping with contemporary changes and perceived threats in Goa.
Details from the Municipal Library of Panjim, where the meeting with Lourdes was originally scheduled. Photos by the author.
In MEMOIR AS A FUTURE-ORIENTED PRACTICE, I draw on Bryant and Knight’s (2019, 3) critique of anthropology’s engagement with the future - which, according to them, represents “a literal dead-end” - to adopt their concept of anticipation. Characterised as “the act of looking forward” (28), and reflecting a pervasive sense of threat and uncertainty (29), I analyse the memoir as an anticipatory, future-oriented practice as it reflects my participants’ anxieties towards the future, often articulated through fears that “Goans are going to disappear,” while also offering a means of exerting influence over the future. By selecting what is worth recording and what is left out, my participants actively shape the narrative of the past projected into the future, thereby determining how history and memory will be remembered and transmitted.
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