2.48 - Collective Memory

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Collective memory is a representation of the past that is shared by members of a group such as a generation or nation-state. Because the study of collective memory has occurred in several disciplines in the humanities and social sciences it is not a single, coherent topic. Instead, it is best approached in terms of a few traditions of inquiry that exist largely because of disciplinary isolation rather than conceptual contradiction. Each tradition has a different way of answering the question: What makes collective memory collective? Three particular traditions in the study of collective memory are outlined: collective memory as social framing, collective memory in the social construction of groups, and collective memory as semiotic distribution. Collective memory as social framing has been studied mostly in psychology, whereas the study of collective memory in the social construction of groups has been examined largely in sociology and political science. The study of collective memory as semiotic distribution has occurred in disciplines such as history, semiotics, and anthropology and focuses on the role of narratives as shared cultural tools.

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