Colours of Our Memories

Michel Pastoureau is chair of the history of medieval symbolism at the École pratique des hautes etudes, and one of the world’s leading authorities on the history of colours. His many previous books include Blue, Black and The Devil's Cloth.

"In this lovely memoir, Pastoureau shares some of the colour associations that signposted his childhood and young adulthood. Embracing the belief that our identities depend on the memories we accumulate, Pastoureau elegantly shows how memories themselves are shaped by colour."Times Higher Education"The ubiquity of colour in modern society blinds us to its cultural significance. In his dazzling new book - a kaleidoscopic mix of historical research and personal memoir - Michel Pastoureau brilliantly reflects on what colour means, and what colours mean, from the underwear drawer to the TV screen."Jonathon Keats, author of Virtual Words and Forged"In this book the distinguished medievalist Michel Pastoureau uses his memoirs to frame reflections on a variety of historical topics that include the history of jeans, the history of signalling and the language of colour in ancient Greece. The author carries his learning lightly and writes with fluency, grace and humour."Peter Burke, University of Cambridge"A wonderful book made up of personal memories, those of a generation born after the war, of notes taken at the time and of scholarly explanations. Thanks to Michel Pastoureau and to the generosity of his erudition and clarity of his analyses, our life suddenly seems much richer."L’Express"This unusual autobiographical reflection is consistent with Michel Pastoureau’s reputation as a leading historian of colours.  Here he draws readers into his distinctive way of thinking about the role that colours play in our memory, showing how our memories open up new fields of research: one rediscovers the objects of everyday life and of mass consumption, the cinema, literature and art, not to mention his cherished theme of heraldry. Through these reflections the reader retraces the history of colours and their theorization in the West. This book is a delight and it will awaken in readers a new curiosity about the world around them."Etudes: Revue de Culture Contemporaine "the writing is informative, often amusing, and delightfully readable."Australian Journal of Politics and History“The Colours of Our Memories is…history, memoir, semiotics, a study of material culture and perceptual change – all wrapped into an engagingly readable, accessible narrative full of intriguing topics that few people ever think about unprodded but will find invariably interesting, even fascinating.”Consciousness, Literature and the Arts

• Colour. An aide-mémoire I. CLOTHINGIn the beginning was yellowTurbulent stripesThe navy-blue blazerSubversive trousersA particular blueFrom the garment to the mythColour against fleshNeutral shades in good tasteMitterand beigeSlimming coloursIn the London UndergroundII. DAILY LIFEMy mother's pharmacyThe sad tale of young PhilippeSweet-dispensersChoosing a colour: an impossible undertaking?GreynessMetro ticketsRed or blue?Traffic lightsColour and design: a missed chance?Eating coloursIII. THE ARTS AND LETTERSIn a painter's studioA painter caught between two volumesIn darkened hallsIvanhoe'Vowels'The Red and the BlackChrétien de Troyes at the cinemaPink pigs and black pigsWhen Dalí assigned marksThe colours of a great painterHistorians without coloursThe workings of timeIV. ON SPORTS GROUNDSGoals and refereesThe yellow bikeBartali and the Italian flagThe Tour de l'OuestColour by defaultEasy colours and difficult onesPink and orangeV. MYTHS AND SYMBOLSLittle Red RidinghoodLong live school LatinMy discovery of heraldryThe black catGreen superstitionsThe colour of destinyFurling the coloursA historical object that is alarmingPlaying chessWittgenstein and heraldic coloursVI. ON TASTES AND COLOURSAn American giftSunbathing through the yearsThe 'bling' of the 1950sA brief history of goldA mysterious shade of greenDo you see red clearly?No purple for childrenThe whims of memoryPreferences and opinion pollsVII. WORDSBrown and beigeSpelling and grammarA day at the racesThe zero degree of colourA part that stands for the wholeThe Greek blueThe demise of nuancesSpeaking of colours without showing themWhat is colour?BibliographyIndexA few helpful chronological details