Collective Memory

Abstract Collective memory is a genre of political discourse. It is the field through which communities construct a shared identity by defining present‐day identities through past events and myths. Collective memory is a critical concept for understanding the meaning, terms, and construction of collective identity. In contrast to individual memory, collective memory is driven by sociological and political imperatives more than psychological ones. Maurice Halbwachs, a seminal figure in the field, argued that “there are no recollections which can be said to be purely interior, that is, which can be preserved only within individual memory. Indeed, from the moment that a recollection reproduces a collective perception, it can itself only be collective” is thus a shared narrative, reconstructed through such functions as elite narratives, popular culture, national myths, and public memorials. Collective memory is often associated with the identity of the nation, for while a nation without a military may be deemed weak and vulnerable, a nation without a collective memory does not exist at all.