Different Memories, Different Worlds

The chapter begins with an illustration of a “mnemonic standoff” between the author and Vitya, a Soviet friend from the 1970s, over the atomic bombing of Hiroshima. The two are stunned that they had such different accounts of “what really happened,” and this leads to three general questions: 1. How is it that there can be such strong disagreement between entire national communities about the past? 2. Why were Vitya and I so certain that our accounts of the events in 1945 were true? 3. What deeper, more general commitments of a national community led to the tenacity with which we held our views? The remaining sections of the chapter address why national memory, as opposed to other forms of collective memory, deserves special attention, what a “narrative approach” to national memory is, and how disciplinary collaboration is required to deal with such questions. It then turns to three illustrations that help clarify the conceptual claims. The first involves American and Russian national memory of World War II, the second focuses on differences between Chinese and American memory of the bombing of the Chinese embassy in Belgrade in 1999, and the third examines how Russian national memory is used as a lens for interpreting contemporary events in Russia and Georgia. Final sections of the chapter introduce the notion of narratives as “equipment for living” in national memory.

Sistemas de hipermedios: desarrollo y configuración

Resume la historia del desarrollo de los sistemas de hipertexto y hipermedios, y explica dichos conceptos. Se centra en el desarrollo de los sistemas de hipermedios, en su configuración y funcionalidad, en la organización de la información y en los principales problemas que entrañan. La explicación teórica se complementa con la presentación de dos proyectos de hipermedios: American Memory y Project Emperor - I.