A cultural psychological analysis of collective memory as mediated action: Constructions of Indian history

Abstract

The present research applies a cultural psychological perspective on collective memory as mediated action to examine how constructions of a national past serve as tools that both reflect and shape national identity concerns. We employ a situation-sampling method to investigate collective memory in a series of studies concerning intergroup relations in the Indian context. In Study 1, participants (N = 55) generated three historical events that they considered important/relevant for Indian history. In Study 2, participants (N = 95) rated the importance and relevance of these events in a within-participant design. Illuminating the psychological constitution of cultural reality, frequency of recall (Study 1) and ratings of importance/relevance (Study 2) were greater for nation-glorifying events celebrating ingroup triumph than for typically silenced, critical events acknowledging ingroup wrongdoing. Moreover, these patterns were stronger among participants who scored higher in national identification. In Studies 3 (N = 65) and 4 (N = 160), we exposed participants to different categories of events in a between-participants design. Illuminating the cultural constitution of psychological experience, participants exposed to typically silenced, critical events reported lower national identification and greater perception of injustice against marginalized groups than did participants exposed to nation-glorifying events. Together, results illuminate a conception of collective memory as mediated action. Producers invest memory products with an identity-interested charge that directs subsequent intergroup relations toward identity-consistent ends.Keywords: collective memory, India, intergroup relations, mediated action, national identity, situation sampling method, social representatons of history Non-Technical Summary BackgroundPeople often come across narratives of national history in many contexts, such as educational settings or museums. These narratives impact how people think about their national identity as well as how they perceive present-day social issues. Research suggests that people may remember their national past selectively and this selective recall may impact how they respond to present day injustices.

Subordinated Knowledge as a Tool for Creative Maladjustment and Resistance to Racial Oppression

“…Follow‐up studies documented the consequences of engagement with different categories of historical facts. Consistent with the other studies that we have reviewed in this section, perception of injustice in Indian society was greater among participants who interacted with CHC representations that mentioned instances of collective wrong‐doing than among participants who interacted with more standard representations consisting of nation‐glorifying events (Mukherjee et al, ; Studies 3 and 4).…”

“…Although White American students in the study of Thanksgiving holiday commemorations generally indicated greater preference and relevance of official proclamations that failed to mention either Indigenous Peoples or genocidal violence, this tendency was particularly prominent among participants who scored high on a measure of national glorification or for whom an experimental manipulation made national glorification salient (Kurtiş et al, , Study 2). Similarly, although Indian participants rated liking and relevance for Indian history to be greater for nation‐glorifying collective triumphs than for more critical incidents of collective wrongdoing, this tendency was especially pronounced among participants who scored higher on a measure of national identification (Mukherjee et al, ; Study 2).…”

“…In another set of studies, researchers used a situation sampling method (see Kitayama, Markus, Matsumoto, & Norasakakunkit, ) to investigate antecedents and consequences of Indian participants’ beliefs about national history (Mukherjee, Adams, & Molina, ). The researchers asked participants in this study to nominate three events that they thought were the most important to include in high school history textbooks.…”

“…Participants tended to nominate nation‐glorifying events (e.g., related to a golden age of Hindu civilization or the struggle for independence from British colonial rule) associated with collective triumphs. Participants made only very infrequent mention of nation‐critical events such as CHC of collective harm‐doing against ethnic and religious minority groups (Mukherjee et al, ; Study 1). Follow‐up studies documented the consequences of engagement with different categories of historical facts.…”

Collective memories and present-day intergroup relations: Introduction to the Special Thematic Section

“…i) The role of primary handling editor for each of the manuscripts present in this special thematic section was as follows: Ana Figueiredo -Brasil & Cabecinhas (2017), Mukherjee et al (2017), Kello (2017), Roth et al (2017) and Cheung et al (2017). Jonas Rees - Smeekes et al (2017), Martinovic et al (2017) and Andrighetto et al (2017).…”