'Wounded Memory', Post-War Gender Conflict and Narrative Identity: Reinterpreting Reggio Emilia Schools' Origin Stories

In this article, memory is examined as it relates to origin stories of the Reggio Emilia approach -- an internationally renowned Italian education programme -- and to the articulation of women's experiences of gender and their narrative identity in this very particular context. The article shows that a number of women who partook in the founding of the Reggio Emilia schools suffer from what Ricoeur terms 'wounded memory', which occurs when public recognition and legitimisation of one's own narrative is actively marginalised, suppressed or erased in historical, official and institutional accounts. The author describes this experience and feeling shared by the Reggio Emilia women who were interviewed and argues that this 'wounded memory' can be linked to a wider concern with gender inequality. The article concludes by presenting some of the missing accounts of leadership, creativity and initiative that were gathered among these women whose memory has been wounded.