1 / 12

Social Theory: Collective Memory

Social Theory: Collective Memory. Bin Xu Assistant Professor of Sociology and Asian Studies Florida International University. Conceptualization of Collective Memory: Outline. A few issues of conceptualization Definition of collective memory Conceptual framework. Conceptual Issues.

neal
Télécharger la présentation

Social Theory: Collective Memory

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. Social Theory: Collective Memory Bin Xu Assistant Professor of Sociology and Asian Studies Florida International University

  2. Conceptualization of Collective Memory: Outline • A few issues of conceptualization • Definition of collective memory • Conceptual framework

  3. Conceptual Issues • Memory as a psychological faculty and as a social-cultural phenomenon • Memory in psychology • Memory as an analogy: e.g. collective amnesia (forgetting) • The Rape of Nanking: The Forgotten Holocaust of World War II

  4. Conceptual Issues • Individual and collective • Collective practices cannot be reduced to individuals’ dispositions and actions • Critical issue: how to turn individual memories to public narratives • Results of collective practices (cultural objects) cannot be reduced to individuals’ actions

  5. Conceptual Issues • History and memory • History versus memory • History and memory • History or memory • History as memory

  6. Definitions • Erll’s definition: • “memory”…is an umbrella term for all those processes of a biological, medial, or social nature which relate past and present (and future) in sociocultural contexts. (p.7)

  7. Definitions • Misztal’s definition • memory is a term to describe “…the social aspects of remembering and the results of this social experience—that is, the representation of the past in a whole set of ideas, knowledges, cultural practices, rituals and monuments through which people express their attitudes to the past and which construct their relations to the past.” (p.6)

  8. Working Definition for this course • Collective memory is a term to describe symbolic practices of social actors, as individuals and groups, pertaining to the past and the results of the practices. • Three components: • Actors (Who?) • Actions (Did what?) • Results of the actions (Things)

  9. Conceptual Framework • Actors • Individuals: autobiographic memory • Groups: ethnic and other groups; groups who shared the same experience • Communities: city; urban and rural communities; virtual communities • Nation-states and political actors

  10. Conceptual Framework • Actions (mnemonic practices) • Commemorations: anniversaries, mourning, etc. • Other mnemonic practices: story-telling, reunions, reconciliation, public debates in the public sphere, protests, gatherings, cultural production, and so on

  11. Conceptual Framework • Results of Actions (Cultural Objects) 1. Cultural objects: “shared significance embodied in form. In other words, it is a socially meaningful expression that is audible, visible, tangible, or can be articulated.” (Griswold) 2. Cultural products 3. Sites of memory

  12. Structure of the Course • Actors: • Nation-states • Sub-nation groups • Individual autobiographic memories • Cultural objects • Literature, movies, comics, films, and other products • Sites of memory • Practices • Commemorative rituals

More Related