What does collective memory mean?
Collective memories are shared representations of a group’s past based on a common identity. Social psychological approaches of collective memory have addressed their antecedents and functions.
How does Halbwachs define collective memory?
Halbwachs stated that every collective memory depends upon specific groups that are delineated by space and time; the group constructs the memory and the individuals do the work of remembering.
What are the functions of collective memory?
Collective memory is expressed in numerous forms—including oral and written narratives, monuments and other memorials, commemorative rituals, and symbols—and serves a range of functions, such as establishing and maintaining relationships, teaching or entertaining others, and supporting group identity.
Who is considered the founder of collective memory studies?
The first explicit use of the term collective memory we could find was by Hugo von Hofmannsthal in 1902, who referred to “the dammed up force of our mysterious ancestors within us” and “piled up layers of accumulated collective memory” (Schieder 1978, p. 2).
How is collective memory constructed?
Collective memory is comprised of symbols, accounts, narratives and images that help to construct a community identity. To investigate this concept further, the researchers began by analyzing the media coverage of WWII in order to identify the shared collective representations associated with it.
What is collective memory and how is it constructed?
In contrast, collective memory focuses on a single perspective, for instance, the perspective of one social group, nation, or community. Consequently, collective memory represents past events as associated with the values, narratives and biases specific to that group.
Why is collective memory important to history?
Information exchange among group members often helps individuals to remember things that they would not have remembered had they been working alone. In other words, the information provided by person A may ‘cue’ memories in person B. This results in enhanced recall.
Is collective memory important?
Different nations, cultures, and groups of people have different collective memories of the past. These memories help to form national narratives about why things happen and how problems in the present and future should be solved.
What is the difference between history and collective memory?
Memory refers to the ways in which individuals and societies choose to remember (or forget) certain moments and events in their history. The former is often referred to as individual memory, whereas the latter is considered collective memory or public memory.
How do you learn collective memory?
Common approaches taken in psychology to study collective memory have included investigating the cognitive mechanisms involved in the formation and transmission of collective memory; and comparing the social representations of history between social groups.