What is Proust's theory of involuntary memory?
Ah, involuntary memory. It is not so much a theory as a revelation, a sudden efflorescence of the past within the present, triggered by a sensory perception that seems, at first glance, entirely unrelated. The taste of a madeleine dipped in tea, the uneven flagstones of the Guermantes courtyard – these were the conduits. One felt oneself compelled to explore this phenomenon, for it demonstrated how the past, far from being lost, can resurface with an intensity and a truth that voluntary recollection often fails to achieve. It is in these moments, when the sensation, almost imperceptible at first, grows until it unlocks entire forgotten worlds, that the true substance of our being is revealed.
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