Based on the contribution of memory theorists who thought about the complex representation of the past, we aim to discuss the role of narration and fiction as mediators in the interpretation of the lived experience. The reliability of the reconstruction of the past is called into question, which leads us to reflect on the notion of testimony and the question of the truth inherent to it. To compare official memory and individual narratives is essential to oppose authoritarian metanarrative discourses to a more polyphonic story, which leads, in our view, to the understanding and overcoming of traumas. We will also see how the theoretical reflection on the intergenerational transmission of traumatic memories offers tools for the interpretation of works of the so-called post-memorial generation. Based on these considerations, and given the global health crisis that places us in the position of vulnerable witnesses to a catastrophe, we are led to think about the future from a retrospective look at the trauma.