Mémoire

In French culture, the word mémoire, as in un mémoire (the word has no direct English translation) the writers own experiences and memories. Quite simular to selfbiography-

The Mémoire up to the 18th century

The word appeared in the course of the 12th century. In this era, it simply meant an explanatory text written to show an idea. Little by little, and above all in the modern era, the term became synonymous with an argumentative piece of writing, serving and asserting an idea. Vauban also wrote mémoires to Louis XIV on fortifications, such as Mémoire pour servir d'instruction dans la conduite des sièges et dans la défense des places, par M. le maréchal de Vauban, présenté au Roi en 1704, and the religious quarrels of the time also produced several mémoires.

The Mémoire's evolution in the 19th century

In the course of the 19th century, "mémoire" took on a sense that approaches the sense it holds today. It lost its polemical character and became a scientific text (or one that wanted to be scientific), for showing a fact, principal or idea. The mémoire thus became shorter and shorter, serving to enlighten the reader on a precise point such as a subject that had to be treated by the administration or politicians. All university writings in this era, however, were still called theses - "mémoire" did not yet have a university sense.