Collective remembering

Abstract

Renewed interest in collective memory has raised the need for conceptual elaboration of the topic and how it can be studied. In an attempt to clarify how it fits into interdisciplinary discussion the following conceptual oppositions are laid out: memory versus remembering, collective versus individual remembering, history versus collective memory, and strong versus distributed versions of collective remembering. Collective memory is then analyzed from the perspective of M. M. Bakhtin's understanding of 'text' in which a 'language system' is contrasted with an 'individual, unique, and unrepeatable' pole of textual analysis. These ideas are harnessed to examine forms of dialogicality that shape collective memory, especially in politically contested cases such as Estonian and Russian accounts of conflict over the past century.

Relative deprivation versus system justification: Polemical social representations and identity positioning in a post‐Soviet society

“…By linking views of history with lived experiences of ancestors, this representation might be motivated by a defence of historical continuity (Jetten & Hutchison, ). Wertsch () emphasizes that ‘by coming to know and believe the narratives of collective memory, we come to know and believe things about who we are today’ (p. 238). Jeopardizing historical continuity is thus represented as a threat to social identity.…”

“…Estonia's occupation) were prevalent in the private sphere (e.g. among family and peers; see Tulviste & Wertsch (), Wertsch ()). After the restoration of Estonian independence, the official representations changed from socialist to nationalist (Ahonen, ).…”

The structure and organization of collective memory representations

“…In a similar vein, Zaromb et al (2014) demonstrated that when asked about the most important events from one of the three wars in American History (the Civil War, World War II, and the Iraq War), responses typically converged on a few core events, each representing key turning points of the wars and were consistent with a broader national schematic narrative. Wertsch (2002Wertsch ( , 2009 claimed that these schematic narratives of public events help nations maintain cohesive social identities.…”

Organizational remembering as a trigger for cultural change: Exploring the episodic memories of a financial scandal

“…This socio-cultural elaboration on remembering links collective memory to group an active construction of identity for "we can't know who we are if we don't know where we have been" (Wertsch, 1997:5). He also argues that collective memory is constructed using culturally developed narratives (Wertsch, 2009). These become frameworks for recalling the past but are elaborated upon in the present.…”