Identity studies (memory studies) is an interdisciplinary field of inquiry that investigates the complex and reciprocal relationship between processes of identity formation (at individual, social, and collective levels) and the various forms and functions of memory (personal, social, cultural, historical). It examines how memory shapes the construction, negotiation, and performance of identity, and conversely, how identity influences the ways in which memory is accessed, interpreted, transmitted, and contested. This field analyzes the socio-cultural, psychological, and political dynamics through which individuals and groups remember the past, construct narratives about themselves and others, and establish senses of selfhood, belonging, and historical consciousness.