scholarly journals Collective Memory and the Rhetorical Power of the Historical Fiction Film

2021 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Carl Plantinga
Keyword(s):  
Collective Memory ◽  
Historical Fiction ◽  
Historical Memory ◽  
Social Science Research ◽  
Historical Context ◽  
Science Research ◽  
Media Theory ◽  
Collective Memories ◽  
Historical Reality ◽  
Sleeper Effect

As tools to establish collective memory, historical fiction films either connect or don’t connect with audiences depending on the historical context in which they are seen. It also makes sense, however, to account for their function psychologically as prompts for experience. In that regard, at least the following three sources account for their rhetorical power. First, for most viewers, they have an ambiguous reference to historical reality that puts into play the “sleeper effect,” which inhibits counterarguing and thus promotes the establishment of historical memory. Second, historical fiction films are mass media disseminated widely to millions of viewers. They also possess medium characteristics that foster viewer immersion and a sense of “presentness.” Third, the ritualized use of conventional narrative schemas elicits emotions that assist memory formation. To make these points, I draw on both media theory and social science research. I give examples and analyze scenes from films such as Selma (2014), Lincoln (2012), and BlacKkKlansman (2018) to illustrate my points. Finally, I conclude with a discussion of the ethics of the historical fiction film, arguing that a blanket dismissal of mainstream historical fictions would be wrong, for it would deny the possibility of establishing beneficial collective memories that have to do, for example, with antiracism or other values that should be widely embraced.

Bridging the gap between the social science and the social ontology of collective memory

2019 ◽  
pp. 175069801987608
Author(s):  
Jeffrey Blustein
Keyword(s):  
Social Sciences ◽  
Social Science ◽  
Collective Memory ◽  
Social Science Research ◽  
Social Ontology ◽  
Science Research ◽  
Margaret Gilbert ◽  
Social Media Site ◽  
The Social ◽  
Collective Remembering

It is commonplace to attribute memories to groups of individuals both large and small. Attributions of memories to groups are also found in social science research. This article proposes using philosophical accounts from the literature on social ontology to help clarify and deepen our understanding of how these terms are being employed in the social sciences. Two contrasting accounts of collective remembering are presented: the joint commitment account derived from the seminal work of Margaret Gilbert, and the participatory intentions account based on Christopher Kutz’s analysis of collective action. The implications of these accounts for clarifying notions of collective memory and remembering in the social sciences are explored through two case studies—one involving a social media site that promotes sharing of memories among users and the other concerning organizational remembering.

scholarly journals Husserlian Descriptive Phenomenology: A review of intentionality, reduction and the natural attitude

2017 ◽  
Vol 7 (8) ◽  
pp. 113 ◽  
Author(s):  
Martin Christensen ◽  
Anthony Welch ◽  
Jennie Barr
Keyword(s):  
Lived Experience ◽  
Scientific Method ◽  
Research Method ◽  
Edmund Husserl ◽  
Social Science Research ◽  
Historical Context ◽  
Science Research ◽  
Natural Attitude ◽  
Descriptive Phenomenology ◽  
Philosophical Foundations

Background and aim: Descriptive phenomenology is widely used in social science research as a method to explore and describe the lived experience of individuals. It is a philosophy and a scientific method and has undertaken many variations as it has moved from the original European movement to include the American movement. The aim of this paper is to describe descriptive phenomenology in the tradition of Edmund Husserl. Integrative literature discussing the nature of descriptive phenomenology was used within this paper to elucidate the core fundamental principles of Husserlian descriptive phenomenology.Methods: This is a methodology paper that provides both an overview of the historical context and the development of descriptive phenomenology in the tradition of Husserl.Results and discussion: Descriptive phenomenology is explained from its historical underpinnings. The principles of the natural attitude, intentionality and the phenomenological reduction are described and using practical examples illustrate how each of these principles is applied within a research context.Conclusions: Understanding the key philosophical foundations of Husserlian descriptive phenomenology as a research method can be daunting to the uninitiated. This paper adds to the discussion around descriptive phenomenology and will assist and inform readers in understanding its key features as a research method. 

From Parkman to Pearson: Historical context and the transformation of Quebec’s strategic culture

2020 ◽  
Vol 75 (4) ◽  
pp. 563-575
Author(s):  
David G. Haglund ◽  
Stéphane Roussel
Keyword(s):  
Collective Memory ◽  
Historical Memory ◽  
Historical Context ◽  
New France ◽  
Strategic Culture ◽  
Large Share ◽  
Long Period ◽  
The Past ◽  
Francis Parkman ◽  
Contemporary Reality

“Strategic culture” is one of those conceptual bridges that link history with political science because, among other reasons, it reminds us of the hold that memories of past events can continue to exercise upon contemporary reality. But those memories are always subjective, sometimes downplayed to the point of nearly being forgotten altogether, at other times so overstated as to yield a highly distorted sense of the past and of its relationship to the present. This article constitutes a revisitation of contemporary Quebec strategic culture, from the perspective of historical memory. That strategic culture has of late been so strongly stamped with the impress of a “Pearsonian internationalism” that it becomes easy for analysts to confuse it with “pacifism.” Yet it has also been a strategic culture that stems from a great deal of historical amnesia. What has been effaced from the collective memory is the long period in which war was endemic in New France—the period that gives the lie to the notion of Quebeckers somehow being a “pacifistic” folk. This was the sanguinary era upon which the historian Francis Parkman focused such a large share of his prodigious intellectual energies. Only the closing act of this era seems to have escaped erasure from Quebec’s collective memory. Indeed, that act, which took place on the Plains of Abraham, has been “remembered” only too well. So well has it been recollected, in fact, that it has fostered within Quebec society the unshakable conviction that, for Quebeckers, war must always be a risky undertaking susceptible of leading to catastrophe.

scholarly journals The Constitution of Collective Memory in Virtual Game Worlds

2009 ◽  
Vol 1 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Anthony Papargyris ◽  
Angeliki Poulymenakou
Keyword(s):  
Collective Memory ◽  
Analogical Reasoning ◽  
Historical Context ◽  
Virtual Community ◽  
Physical Reality ◽  
Practice Research ◽  
Collective Memories ◽  
Cultural Heterogeneity ◽  
Research Findings ◽  
Virtual Game

In this paper, we explore the constitution of collective memory in virtual game worlds. Based on ethnographic data gathered during a three year participatory observation in two Massive Multiplayer Online Games (MMOGs), we study the collective practices, histories, memories, and identities that the members of two large guilds engaged and practice. Research findings indicate that the constitution of collective memory and identity of a virtual community drastically differentiates form regular communities in the physical reality. This is due to the issues of cultural heterogeneity, the interpretation of the virtual world’s reality, the envisioning of other members ‘true’ identity, and the apprehension of circumstanced actions and events (i.e., historical context) taking place inside a virtual game world. In order to overcome such obstacles, members of a MMOG virtual community make extensive use of peripheral discussions using metaphors and analogical reasoning, while in order to preserve their collective memory and identity, they instrumentally rely on war stories (historical narratives), cases of personality checks (member and individual roles), and other communicative practices for manipulating and reshaping collective memories (i.e. misinformation though propaganda).

scholarly journals At the Foot of the Grave: Challenging Collective Memories of Violence in Post-Franco Spain

2019 ◽  
Vol 5 ◽  
pp. 237802311983213
Author(s):  
Nicole Iturriaga
Keyword(s):  
Civil War ◽  
Social Movement ◽  
Collective Memory ◽  
Transitional Justice ◽  
Spanish Civil War ◽  
Historical Memory ◽  
Mass Grave ◽  
Franco Regime ◽  
Collective Memories ◽  
Central Interest

Understanding the development and meaning of collective memory is a central interest for sociologists. One aspect of this literature focuses on the processes that social movement actors use to introduce long-silenced counter-memories of violence to supplant the “official” memory. To examine this, I draw on 15 months of ethnographic observations with the Spanish Association for the Recovery of Historical Memory (ARMH) and 200 informal and 30 formal interviews with locals and activists. This paper demonstrates that ARMH activists, during forensic classes given at mass grave exhumations, use multiple tactics (depoliticized science framing, action-oriented objects, and embodiment) to deliver a counter-memory of the Spanish Civil War and Franco regime and make moral and transitional justice claims. This research shows how victims’ remains and the personal objects found in the graves also provoke the desired meaning that emotionally connects those listening to the classes to the victims and the ARMH’s counter-memory.

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