Talk:Collective memory

Wiki Education Foundation-supported course assignment
This article was the subject of a Wiki Education Foundation-supported course assignment, between 16 September 2019 and 18 December 2019. Further details are available on the course page. Student editor(s): Cranein.

Above undated message substituted from Template:Dashboard.wikiedu.org assignment by PrimeBOT (talk) 19:18, 17 January 2022 (UTC)

Wiki Education Foundation-supported course assignment
This article was the subject of a Wiki Education Foundation-supported course assignment, between 8 January 2020 and 25 April 2020. Further details are available on the course page. Student editor(s): Milcaarellano.

Above undated message substituted from Template:Dashboard.wikiedu.org assignment by PrimeBOT (talk) 19:18, 17 January 2022 (UTC)

Wiki Education Foundation-supported course assignment
This article was the subject of a Wiki Education Foundation-supported course assignment, between 20 April 2020 and 20 July 2020. Further details are available on the course page. Student editor(s): Sadelilly, Adassa.saintus.

Above undated message substituted from Template:Dashboard.wikiedu.org assignment by PrimeBOT (talk) 19:18, 17 January 2022 (UTC)

Wiki Education Foundation-supported course assignment
This article is or was the subject of a Wiki Education Foundation-supported course assignment. Further details are available on the course page. Peer reviewers: S.R. Summerfield, Aqilhc, T. Belrose, Jgrubb12, Churdle2014, MTK999, Sdelarosbil, JenRooney90, K8macbeth, Mchappus12, Rima38, Xialouf, Efingler12, SDRAPER14, TGordon13, Nmampuya.

Above undated message substituted from Template:Dashboard.wikiedu.org assignment by PrimeBOT (talk) 18:01, 16 January 2022 (UTC)

Untitled
Is anyone sure about this Assman thing and knows it's not vandalism or a joke?


 * Yep, just google it and you'll find the references all over the internet. It must be either Jan or Aleida Assman from the looks of things, but I don't feel duty bound to include this, given that I'm only trying to find out anything about collective memory as related to feminism and have found this section woefully short!

Jan Assmann is a famous egyptologist, who has also extensively written about memory and rememberance and the establishment of cult and religion.Ver sacrum 08:26, 27 September 2006 (UTC)

Does anyone know the exact date that Halbwachs coined the term?

I have in my possession a first edition of "La mémoire collective" (Paris, 1950), published posthumously from manuscripts left behind by the author. In a preface by Jeanne Alexandre (the editor, and Halbwachs' sister) there is mention of a text "La Mémoire Collective chez les Musiciens" published in the "Revue Philosophique" in 1939 (n° 3-4). As far as I know this would have been the first usage of the term. But again, that's just as far as I know. Ver sacrum 01:38, 5 December 2006 (UTC). N. B. In his book Les cadres sociaux de la mémoire published in 1925, Halbwachs used the term "la mémoire collective" extensively. I am not aware of earlier references to this concept and would be interested to learn about occurrences of the term collective memory, la mémoire collective or kollektives Gedächtnis before Halbwachs. Note that the word "organic memory" in Hering or Semon is not identical. Hegel is the first to use memory (Erinnerung) in this specifically collective sense - i.e. to refer not only to memory as a faculty but as an organ of social cohesion in the Phenomenology of the Spirit. but the term "collective memory" is absent in his work, as it is in Renan or Droysen, who use the term memory in a collective sense –––- Jeffrey Andrew Barash

In a strict sense "Groups" never remember any more than they have an autonomous, substantial existence! In what way then do "groups" remember more than individuals? See in this respect the very pertinent remarks of historian Reinhart Koselleck in his critique of the concept of collective memory! It is in his book Vom Sinn und Unsinn der Geschichte which has unfornately not yet been translated into English. This requires complete revision---Jeffrey Andrew Barash

Anyone know if Nora's contribution about space is available in English, and in which book?

--Yanemiro 11:56, 18 February 2007 (UTC)

My major interaction with Nora's work in English has come from a special issue of the journal Representations, No. 26, Special Issue: Memory and Counter-Memory, Spring, 1989 entitled "Between Memory and History: Les Lieux de Mémoire." It's accessible online through the JSTOR database.

'Memory' Section

Below is a section that was previously included which I removed. Its about a single study and its not really clear what it is adding to our understanding about collective. I've left it here in case anyone wants to elaborate on it later and put it back.

Memory Groups remember more than individuals, as groups are able to draw on the knowledge and experience (memories) of all individuals present. An example of this is from a study by Norman Brown that involved a few experiments testing individual inaccuracies. The first experiment had 15 subjects estimate the month and year of 36 random events, some of which were political and non-political. The timing of the events ranged from January 1976 to May 1983. Subjects were instructed to think out loud and would be prompted if they fell silent for more than a couple of seconds. One prediction was that participants would frequently justify their responses with reference to one or more auxiliary facts. This experiment yielded that only accurate responses concerning the correct month and year happened 8% of the time. Most of the participants (78%) used auxiliary facts to date events.

The second experiment used 40 different events 20 being political and 20 being non-political. The 24 four year undergraduates from the University of Chicago were asked to tell if the event happened during the Carter or Reagan presidency. Then they were asked if the event happened while they were in high school or college. As a side experiment participants were given a reward for answering each question correctly in less than 10 seconds. This trial was done twice for each person. Obviously the second time answers were more accurate and faster. Participants as a whole were able to answer political events faster when deciding which president was in office and were able to answer non-political events faster with high school or college.

The third experiment consisted of participants using free-association and a knowledge-assessment phase. The 30 students were asked to write down the first current event they could think of related to the shown high-knowledge political event, low-knowledge political event, high-knowledge non-political event, and the low-knowledge non-political event. High-knowledge events had higher same narrative responses (44%) from the participants. Another example would be members of a group planning a tactical strike against another country are likely to come to a better decision when they work together, rather than alone. One member may be knowledgeable about the terrain and morale of the troops in the country where the strike is planned, while another may be knowledgeable about the home country's weaponry, and another may be knowledgeable about the home country's military morale.

Akin to this example, when students are permitted to take examinations as a group, they usually outperform individuals, as each member of the group is knowledgeable in different areas. Aymp458 (talk) 16:41, 14 December 2018 (UTC)

How Societies Remember
Given that this article is completely without references, it certainly doesn't need questionable external links, let alone such links that have been spammed to multiple articles. If How Societies Remember can be used as a referece, then let's use it as a reference. Otherwise let's leave it out per WP:EL, WP:SPAM, and WP:NOT --Ronz (talk) 04:55, 31 December 2007 (UTC)

How Societies Remember is the title of an excellent book by Paul Connerton, first published by Cambridge University Press in 1989. The originality of Connerton's book lies above all in his way of tying remembrance to the body and to body habits, thus extending in an original direction the sociological dimension of this topic explored by Marcel Mauss (Techniques of the Body) and also parallel to the notion of the Habitus in Pierre Bourdieu. I have dealt with this extensively in what I term the "memory of the êthos" in my recent book, Collective Memory and the Historical Past, Chicago, 2016 — Preceding unsigned comment added by Jabarash (talk • contribs) 11:36, 20 December 2016 (UTC)


 * It appears this article has been in this poor state for at least 2 years. Once I can get some more time and the literature in English on my hands, I will support any attempt at preparing a well-referenced article. 95.157.3.4 (talk) 22:34, 2 February 2010 (UTC)

History of the term
While Halbwachs is widely credited for coining the term, a quick Google news search beginning in 1800 turns up some interesting results. That is, Halbwachs was by no means the first to use the term. There is a new Collective Memory reader on its way from Jeffry Olick (and co eds), via Oxford Press, that will provide more detail and history. If CM is of interest, keep an eye out for the book, you'll want it. Here's something that might be worth looking at in the meantime: http://esa.abstractbook.net/abstract.php?aID=4933 --Jonashart (talk) 04:55, 25 February 2010 (UTC)

Celestine Prophecy?
Does anyone else feel that the inclusion of references to this novel is unnecessary and detracts from the description of the concept as a focus of social science? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 72.252.65.226 (talk) 20:42, 17 July 2011 (UTC)
 * You're quite right, and it's shocking that nearly a decade has gone by with nothing being done about it. I have removed the reference to the novel from the article. Midnightblueowl (talk) 19:15, 16 October 2019 (UTC)

Collective memory in mass media
I found that this section was kind of awkwardly written, with very repetitive examples of media representations. I skimmed through to try and correct minor grammatical errors throughout this section, but it seems as if it may have been translated or just written as the author thought of examples. Overall it could also use more citations, and perhaps a more thorough rewrite, especially if someone has more academic writing on this topic. - AqilHC (talk) 05:51, 20 January 2016 (UTC). I have just added a description of the theoretical argument I present on collective memory and the mass media in my recent book Collective Memory and the Historical Past and I hope that this will help. –––Jeffrey Andrew Barash

External links modified
Hello fellow Wikipedians,

I have just modified one external link on Collective memory. Please take a moment to review my edit. If you have any questions, or need the bot to ignore the links, or the page altogether, please visit this simple FaQ for additional information. I made the following changes:
 * Added archive https://web.archive.org/web/20070223060810/http://www.cnrs.fr/cw/en/pres/compress/memoire/lavabre.htm to http://www.cnrs.fr/cw/en/pres/compress/memoire/lavabre.htm

When you have finished reviewing my changes, you may follow the instructions on the template below to fix any issues with the URLs.

Cheers.— InternetArchiveBot  (Report bug) 16:01, 10 August 2017 (UTC)

historical memory
The term historical memory is currently bumping to this entry, but it seems to me that this is actually a different term. If it is going to be sent to this entry there should at least be a subsection talking about this term and how it is both similar and different. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Sara.koopman (talk • contribs) 20:25, 29 January 2020 (UTC)