Abstract

KUPPRAT, Felix. Rethinking theories of memory from the vantage of ethnography and archaeology. An. antropol. [online]. 2022, vol.56, n.2, pp.41-53.  Epub Aug 14, 2023. ISSN 2448-6221.  https://doi.org/10.22201/iia.24486221e.2022.77993.

This paper explores the usefulness of a series of concepts derived from theories of memory for anthropology. First, I discuss the basic terms recollection and memory, as well as derived concepts such as procedural memory, priming, perceptual memory, semantic memory, episodic memory, collective memory, social memory, historical memory, and cultural memory. In a second step, I elaborate on some methodological guidelines concerning the study of cultural memory parting from two case studies, one ethnographic and one archaeological. The first case illustrates the intergenerational transmission of the memory of a disruptive and traumatic event and its integration into the community’s cultural memory via a process of institutionalization and ritualization in communal practices and tangible media. The second case shows that changes in the hegemonic expressions of cultural memory may reveal identity transformations and discursive conflicts, which, in turn, betray the complexity of social relations. The methodological discussion emphasizes communication processes and the transmission of memories. The path chosen here is only one of many possible analytical approaches, but it shows the appropriateness of the model of cultural memory for issues of identities, power and social relations in a conceptual framework that enables the comparison of cases across different disciplines.

Keywords : cultural memory; commemorative practices; memory media; symbols of the past; cultural identity.

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