Sharing the past: Collective memory

Discussion questions

Posted at Sep 27/2011 03:19PM:
amd1: A few potential questions for discussion:1. What is the importance of the archive for collective memory? How does the archive function? Is the archive more about forgetting then remembering? How do we decide what is important enough to go into the archive?

2. What are the temporal differences between memory and history? How does each of them relate to temporality?

3. While some were more politically situatedthan others, all of the readings this week provide a good basis forunderstanding the overarching themes as well as nuances of this idea of collectivememory. Anne Whitehead raises the question of “whether the nation representsthe primary, or the most appropriate, vehicle for remembering or commemoratingwar” (147) What I would ask further is whether the theories collective memoryin Whitehead’s essay and in the other readings can help us negotiate the roleof the nation in acting (or not) as an agent, facilitator (think up more directives!)of public, collective memorials and monuments that commemorate events, war andotherwise?

Posted at Sep 28/2011 11:10PM:
Mo: 1. Discuss the beliefs of Bergson and Halbwachs in the connection between dreams and memory. Although they share similarities in thought, where do the two diverge?

Posted at Sep 28/2011 11:20PM:
Alyssa Thelemaque: 1) “Different interpretations of the Revolution or of the Civil War do not threaten the American tradition because in some sense, no such thing exists—or if it does, it is not primarily a historical construction (Nora, 10).” Is this because of the relative newness of our nation? Or because of the diversity of our society? 1A) How does this relate to the later idea that a “nation” legitimizes itself by the past while a “society” legitimizes itself by the future. What are the differences between the coupling of “state and nation” vs. “state and society”?

2) Do an individual’s personal memories that have been crystallized within the mind (even if it is not an accurate, “authentic” memory) mean that that memory has become history? Why does a personal memory have to relate to a shared identity group when the memory does not involve anyone else?

3) Archiving—interesting to view in a public forum (e.g. a museum) as it chooses what information to preserve or disregard; furthermore, what information it chooses to present to the public

Posted at Sep 29/2011 09:33AM:
Raisa: How does historical reconstruction shape the social memory of groups? Where do we find the intersections of historical construction and social memory?

How does the collective memory of a group retain continuity over time, especially if generational re-interpretation alters collective memory according to the context of the present?

Is there a role/space for individual memory within a group's collective memory? Can there be a global collective memory?

How do collective memory and history contribute towards conceptions of self and national identity?

Are we suffering from an excess of memory? To what end do we archive?