Collective Memory example essay topic

Collective memory has become a topic of rather heated debates recently, both in political and sociological fields, and there are a couple of solid reasons for that. Certainly, there are a lot of horrifying and hideous acts that some countries and individual leaders have committed, and there are a lot of reasons why the present generation wants those acts forgotten by everyone. Although the individual members that can potentially remember those acts might be already deceased, the collective memory is what keeps them alive. As Michael Schudson has put it, "even though the past is regularly reconstructed this is done within limits, stopped by the hard edges of resistance the past provides. (Schudson, p. 17) Within the course of that research, we will elaborate on how the collective memory is formed and used over time, as well as discuss the factors that prevent modern day historians and politicians to rewrite history in the way they feel suited the best. Anthony D. Smith who wrote National Identity and Myths of Ethnic Descent discussed how myths are formed and how they can lead to the ethnic regeneration within a group of people.

He associated his ideas on ethnic regeneration with the countries of Turkey, Greece, England, France, and Israel. His ideas clearly outlined the steps that are taken to regenerate when people are influence by myths created sometimes thousands of years ago in such cases as seen by Jews. There were eight steps which all of these nation-states were said to have followed, in order to be where they are today. (Smith, p. 87) Of these eight steps I do not agree with the one that says, They designate a space and time for their action.

I do not feel that a specific time is designated. Instead I feel that the time is determined at a moments notice. This can be seen presently when referring to the future state of Palestine. The date for this states declaration of existence has changed numerous times during the past few years. Yael Zerubavel writes about collective remembering and Zionist reconstruction of the past. I agree with the historian that Zerubavel talks about in his writings (Halbwachs).

I feel that Halbwachs view of history is somewhat expressed as collective memory. Collective memory is what gives a society its goals that they must seek in the future. It also creates a bond between the people of that society. As a result it leads to these people wanting to settle together in a nation-state.

The Zionist movement is an example of something caused by collective memory. Through generations the Diaspora and other events in the lives of Jews have been passed on, which eventually led Jews to create a homeland in 1948. That was possible because of their collective memory, because otherwise they would have never united to achieve their goal. Michael Schudson, in his work Watergate in American Memory: How We Remember, Forget, and Reconstruct the Past, also addresses the issue of collective memory. He brings about a rather interesting point in his work: although American political leaders want ordinary citizens to forget about the Watergate Scandal, it never happens, and presidents in contemporary America have less credibility than they used to simply due to that fact. Schudson suggests that collective memory here plays a role that is certainly not appreciated by the contemporary American politicians: it reminds people of what might happen if president have an uncontrollable power.

Maurice Halbwachs, in his now famous work The Collective Memory, makes interesting parallels between collective memory and historical memory. He suggests that while historical memory is reshaped and transformed within some particular time period, the collective memory remains mostly stable, which makes it more valuable than historical memory, which is reinterpreted with every new publishing of the History books for schools and colleges. (Halbwachs, p. 29) He is more precise than Schudson in his ideas of why collective memory cannot be influenced to a great extent by the state and its officials. His comparison of individual and collective memory explains why it is simply impossible to overwrite history in more plausible way. (Halbwachs, p. 35) Certainly, one of the most efficient ways to create and reinforce the collective memory of certain group of people is art in its various forms.

For instance, while the American government does almost everything possible to make people forget about the consequences of slavery, African Americans certainly cannot simply forget such a grave period in their history. The effects of this racial experience have carried over from generation to generation making an imprint in the collective memory of African Americans. This is sometimes referred to as the collective conciseness. These memories of the middle passage, reconstruction era, and civil rights are branded into the African American memory and can be expressed through art.

In The Colored Museum by Wolfe, the first exhibit, "Get on Board", establishes the basic premise as it mocks African Americans' involuntary voyage to America through the use of a pseudo-sophisticated African American stewardess and images of slaves as baggage to be discarded if not claimed (Johnson, p. 81). An example of the reenactment of the instruction of the shackles, reminds the audience of riding in an airplane and hearing the instructions of the buckling the seat belt so one can not move. The idea that the shackles are being metaphorically compared to the safety of a seat belt is preposterous, and triggers the collective memory. Although the reader is amused it still triggers the emotion of the all too familiar journey over the Atlantic.

The fifty-day journey started the few hundred of years of struggle and misery of the African American experience..