The essay offers a critique of the validity of the computer model of memory (“storage and recovery”) when applied to mental mnemonic phenomena. The critique is articulated in the following moments: 1) fromthe neurological standpoint, based on the latest studies, it is clear that the brain does not function as a digital device; 2) the mnemonic trace is not a datum or an information, but a symbol, which serves as a cue for the re-narration of memories that occurs in the anamnesis; 3) the relationsh ip between hypnomesis andanamnesis is not linear and unidirectional, but circular; 4) in this relationship, oblivion plays in several ways an essential role. From this derives a conception of memory as a dynamic and creative activity: living memory as narration and continuous regeneration of memories.