Introduction. This article examines the role of memory in communication between people, as well as in such a process as recognition. No communication is feasible without the primary recognition of one subject by the other. Recognition is a way of holding a subject in memory through the connection of the less significant with the more significant. Accordingly, recognition becomes social not when it has occurred, but after it has been fixed. Theoretical analysis. The hypothesis proposed is the idea of fixation, which refers to the fact that recognition implies distance in time: it is possible to determine whether or not recognition has actually taken place post factum through reflection on experience. Thus, memory ensures the preservation of recognition. A number of conditions are necessary for recognition to occur at the level of memory: novelty, duration of exposure, reinforcement of value, contrast, eventfulness, emotional background, actualization, narrativity. Conclusion. The problems of oblivion, which also affect the mechanism of recognition, have been considered. Oblivion creates a deficit of material for recognition, which becomes difficult due to the lack of sufficient information. Memory helps to connect disparate elements into a system and thus enables recognition to take place, since it is a condition for the construction of a semiotic reality.