Verified Document

Collective And Historical Memory Collective Essay

For Maurice Halbwach the two memories related by him experiencing the environmental conditions when he visited Algeria and when he visited the banker's family. The two scenarios reminded him of events in the past that he might have experienced, or he had read or been told about. Collective memory can be used to alter the historical memory of a person. If a person becomes too involved in some groups and they participate more often in its memory, they can alter their historical memory with the new information they come across, and they did not know of back then. These changing would mean that the memory the person had was not the full picture, or the group may be more connected with that part of the past events. Distortions or blanks may be present in a person's historical memory, because of this blanks the person will fill them in using his or her own imagination. The only way the person will discover that his or her memories are wrong is if there is another person with whom they share the same memory. The other person can give out a different and more realistic recount of the events. This would make the former to alter their memory.

Agreeing or disagreeing with Maurice Halbwach's distinctions

The distinctions that Maurice Halbwach has made are true. This is because...

The trigger can be a picture, a smell, or a conversation with other people. This goes to show that historical memory and collective memory are related and collective memory can help one recover their past memories Ron, 2004.
There are also times that a historical memory can be altered, especially if one did not have all the facts. This would make the new discovery replace some of their historical memory, just as it would have happened with Halbwach's father. Had he started receiving new information or discoveries regarding his dead father. The new discoveries would have altered his remembrance of his father, because he was not alive anymore and his memories had started to fade away.

References

Green, a. (2004). Individual Remembering and 'Collective Memory': Theoretical Presuppositions and Contemporary Debates. Oral History, 32(2), 35-44.

Halbwachs, M., & Coser, L.A. (1992). Halbwachs/Coser: On Collective Memory. 1427 E. 60th Street Chicago, IL 60637: University of Chicago Press.

Ron, E. (2004). The Past in the Present: Culture and the Transmission of Memory. Acta Sociologica, 47(2), 159-169.

Sources used in this document:
References

Green, a. (2004). Individual Remembering and 'Collective Memory': Theoretical Presuppositions and Contemporary Debates. Oral History, 32(2), 35-44.

Halbwachs, M., & Coser, L.A. (1992). Halbwachs/Coser: On Collective Memory. 1427 E. 60th Street Chicago, IL 60637: University of Chicago Press.

Ron, E. (2004). The Past in the Present: Culture and the Transmission of Memory. Acta Sociologica, 47(2), 159-169.
Cite this Document:
Copy Bibliography Citation

Related Documents

Memory Studies Memories of Cyprus a View
Words: 3506 Length: 11 Document Type: Term Paper

Memory Studies Memories of Cyprus A View of Greek & Turkish- Cypriots Memories of the past play an important role in deciding our present and future. They even have a potential of molding the course of our life. Different people sharing the same history may have a different perspective of looking at it; therefore they develop their own different set of memories based on their individual events. This is exactly what happened to

Memory Based on Memory Is
Words: 3258 Length: 10 Document Type: Term Paper

In the end of the nineteenth century, research experiments were carried out on memory. In this period, the memory dominated by the symbol of evolutionary development in nature. In nineteenth century, many new technologies were developed such as radiography, photography and cinema cameras to recall and preserve memory. "Memorializing the achievements of individuals considered as members of families is the earliest popular use of photography" (Sontag, 2001, p. 43). These

Memory the Im Persistence of Historical and
Words: 734 Length: 2 Document Type: Term Paper

Memory The (Im) persistence of Historical and Collective Memory: The Collective Forgetting of Vichy France and the Victims of the Holocaust The unstable nature of human memory even on a personal level has been a persistent theme since Sigmund Freud's analysis of hysterics, to the modern day queries over the 'repressed memory' syndrome of alleged victims of childhood abuse. The fear of 'forgetting' such horrific historical events as the Holocaust in Europe

Collective Cultural Shadow and Confrontation
Words: 4409 Length: 15 Document Type: Term Paper

10)." Just as in the U.S. economy, where individuals have been economically left behind, such will be, and is, the case in the emerging global economy (p. 10). Ayres says that the impression, or the turning of society's blind eye towards the chaos of the economically disenfranchised, tends to cause the more affluent amongst us to believe that the term "global" means everybody will be a part of the emerging

Visual Media and How They Shape Our Collective Memory
Words: 605 Length: 2 Document Type: Essay

Memory and Culture visual media and how they shape our collective memory. Zelizer and food culture According to B. Zelizer's analysis of the book Realms of memory: "We are enlightened by the curious notion that one's food an indicator of one's level of civilization" (Zelizer 1999: 202-203). In discussing the symbolic language of France, food plays an important role in the author's analysis. Food symbolizes collective aspects of the culture as well as

Stonewall Riots Collective Behavior Collective Action
Words: 2172 Length: 7 Document Type: Term Paper

Collective behavior" and the Stonewall Riots The term "collective behavior" refers to behavior that militates against social norms and conventions regarding the way that individuals should behave in society and differing to the way that they normally behave when not in a crowd environment. A crowd environment causes certain spontaneity to actions and a certain animal emotion that is lacking in regular 'separate existence'. Scholars have devoted considerable attention to

Sign Up for Unlimited Study Help

Our semester plans gives you unlimited, unrestricted access to our entire library of resources —writing tools, guides, example essays, tutorials, class notes, and more.

Get Started Now