Memories are one of the sources used by historians in historical research and are also a foundation for oral history, as a distinctive method in historiography. Reminiscence writing, with different styles and formats, has a long background in the history of Iran's culture and literature. In recent years, for several reasons, the old tradition of memory writing in its various forms has re-emerged among a wide range of individuals. On the other hand, productions of the scientific method of oral history, as one of the newest methods for collecting the historical data needed by historians, sociologists and psychologists, have increased. Some use the title "oral history" to refer to the documenting of memories in a variety of ways. The key question is whether it is scientifically correct to refer to various types of memories (autobiography, biography, written and spoken) as oral history? The answer is that memory writing and oral history have basic differences in their nature, mechanism and function. Thus it is necessary to distinguish between memory writing and oral history in order to comparatively analyze the two. This paper aims to provide the common definitions of memory, memory writing and its different types, and to describe the functions and compare the features of memory writing with oral history. Moreover, the brain’s function, as the container of memories, is briefly mentioned.
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