This article provides an analysis of the intersection of memory studies and biographical research in the study of Estonian post-Soviet memory processes and memories. Both lines of research emerged during the post-communist turn, albeit with different dynamics and different possibilities to build on existing research traditions. Both are multidisciplinary in nature. This article focuses on the points of contact between biographical research and memory studies in social and scientific methodological processes. The authors show that biographical research, which played a significant role in documenting and disclosing the long-silenced past throughout Eastern Europe during the collapse of communist regimes, has shifted from memory activism to critical examination of memory contexts, mnemonic actors, power relations, and contradictions. To this end, first, the impact of the cultural institutions dealing with collecting oral histories and life stories is analysed as contributors to the Estonian post-communist turn. Second, an overview is provided of post-communist biographical research in Estonia from a memory studies perspective, focusing both on influential theories and methods and pointing to contributions to international memory debates. In addition, gaps in biographical memory work and research are highlighted. Biographical memory studies in Estonia grew out of anticommunist memory work in the late 1980s and early 1990s, being part of a symbolic process of truth and remembrance, actively shaping interpretations of the past, evoking and slowing down collective 'memory shifts'. Research from the late 1990s onwards became critical of the hegemonic consequences of post-communist memory work. Post-Soviet memory processes were conceptualised as dynamic and dependent on different contexts, conflicting experiences, and power structures. Methodologically, Estonian biographical memory research developed at the intersection of the German School of Cultural Memory and the Anglo-American School of Social Memory. The initially content-based approach to narrative memory was complemented by performative, procedural, and time-complex approaches that indicated the growing importance of cultural dynamics and mediation in memory research. As a result of the so-called new cultural memory studies, which emphasizes mediation and media, life stories and memories have come to be understood as a medium of memory, among others, which has stimulated dialogue between different disciplines and perspectives on memory studies paving way to a more dialogic, interdisciplinary and complementary approach to social and cultural memory. Research on the interpretation of the Estonian Soviet past has shown that in memory work, cultural and communicative remembering are interconnected, intertwined, and based on each other. Examination of deportation stories has called into question the universality of trauma theory in the light of its recent attempts at decolonisation. By critically addressing new generational memories in the landscape of post-communist remembrance and rethinking the concept of generation, biographical memory research has taken a step beyond a trauma-centred approach to memory. The analysis of Estonian biographical memory research - both in the form of memory work and critical research - showed its very close connection with the memory processes in society both in terms of the choice of topics and the development of memory theories and criticism. In addition, the biggest gap in Estonian memory research so far - collecting and researching the memories of Estonian Russians - is related to the continuing distrust of the Russian-speaking community in the Estonian public and official spheres. It is only recently that research has been conducted that points to the complex nature of Estonian Russian lifeworlds and memories.
