Collective Memory: Problems And Prospects

Abstract

The author of the paper analyzed the modern scientific literature and revealed the most pressing issues of the methodology of collective memory research. The contradictions associated with the interdisciplinary strategy were presened by a separate pool. According to the author, the boundaries of the concept “col­lective memory” and approaches to the study of supra-individual processes are not clearly defined today, one should be skeptical about the judgments con­cerning the existence of a “network of shared memories”, it remains necessary for a scientist to clarify his role during field studies. Special attention is paid to the dichotomy of history and collective memory, as well as “places of mem­ory” and their deconstruction. The specific issues of epistemological analysis, in­cluding the problem of subject and the authenticity, the verifiability of narrative are analyzed in the paper. This work is intended to set priorities for further study of the phenomenon of collective memory and its deeper interpretation. As ana­lyzed texts, the works of following sociologists were used: (G. Schumann, E. Corning), psychologists (D. Wirtch), historians (P. Nora, J. Assmann), and also philosophers (N. Gadi, I. Elam, A. Margalit). Basically, these are modern sources that have been already relied on earlier researches, representing the branches of development of the theory investigated by the French sociolo­gist and philosopher M. Halbwachs. They trace both a certain continuity and contradictions associated with conceptual features.