Voices of Collective Remembering

This book draws on numerous fields to provide a comprehensive review of collective memory.

There is currently a great deal of discussion in the humanities and social sciences about collective memory, but there is very little agreement on what it is. The first goal of this volume is to review various understandings of this term to bring some coherence to the discussion. Drawing on this review, James V. Wertsch goes on to outline a particular version of collective remembering grounded in the use of 'textual resources', especially narratives. This takes him into the special properties of narrative that shape this process and into the issues of how these textual resources are produced and consumed. Wertsch brings these general ideas to life by examining the rapid, massive transformation of collective memory during the transition from Soviet to post-Soviet Russia.

Introduction; 1. An encounter with collective memory; 2. Methodological preliminaries to the study of collective remembering; 3. Collective memory: a term in search of a meaning; 4. State production of official historical narratives; 5. Narrative dialogicality and narrative templates in the production of official collective memory; 6. The consumption of historical narratives; 7. Generational differences in collective remembering; Conclusion.

This book draws on psychology, history, literary theory, semiotics, sociology, and political science to provide a comprehensive review of collective memory. It then outlines a particular formulation based on how narratives are produced by the modern state, and how they are consumed, or used by individuals.