Social memory: definition, features, examples

Remembering your past is very important for every person. History is an area in which everyone must be aware, because it gives the key to understanding the events of the distant past. This, in turn, can save humanity from mistakes in the future. The social memory of mankind is a huge living system that grows every day, "feeding" on memories, literature, music, etc.

Cultural heritage of society

Social memory, the definition of which will be given below, is considered a subject for interdisciplinary research, since it is very multifaceted. It is an important system that allows the transfer of cultural heritage, which is very voluminous, diverse and chaotic. Thanks to the fact that mankind has invented many ways to convey its knowledge, impressions and thoughts to future generations, the social memory of society is huge, everyone can draw from it.

The cultural heritage is very important, because it explains the past and helps to understand the future. The universal memory can not disappear, but, unfortunately, it is very easy to warp. The problems of the true preservation of history are not only occupied by specialists, but also by ordinary people. They write biographies, memoirs that are not printed anywhere, but simply lie in the old house, in a dusty closet and wait for their time. All the secret sooner or later becomes apparent, therefore humanity learns its true history.

Origins

In order to understand what social memory means, it is necessary to go a little deeper into psychology and philosophy. Both of these sciences suggest that there is a kind of collective unconscious that guides the whole of society. It is very difficult to describe this system, but the fact that it really exists has been proved many times already. The term is difficult to define intelligibly for a number of reasons. First, it should be understood that we are talking about a purely theoretical concept. Secondly, to give an example is quite difficult. However, it should be noted that modern scientists have advanced much further than their predecessors and were able to define this concept and give concrete examples.

The development of the idea of the social memory of mankind has a long enough tradition in the history of psychology. Domestic psychologists were actively engaged in this issue, trying to find confirmation. L.S. Vygotsky, AR Luria and other scientists were able to prove that turning political and historical events in the life of society can influence the human psyche and its memory, raising them to a new level.

Social memory

The term is a form of transferring the "memory capital" of social groups, and also expresses certain ideas, positions and values. The social memory of mankind is the bearer of moral, cultural norms and values. Thanks to it, the accumulated "capital" of memory can be used in the process of communication, and also to recreate it.

It should be noted that the term "social memory" is a subject of study of scientists from different fields of knowledge. So it is important to understand that the concept is very multifaceted. Nevertheless, modern scientific literature does not explain the system of social memory, its structure and content. In general, there are many definitions of this concept, since everything depends on the methodological approach of a particular science.

For example, the information approach defines social memory as the transmission of information by time channels. On the other hand, psychologists explain the term as the totality of all the information that is in society. Also, we should not forget that such concepts are connected with such concepts as the historical experience of mankind, historical truth, counter memory, common memory.

Historical memory of mankind

Historical consciousness implies the memory of all events of the history of mankind. This is a separate category, which is included in a large complex of social memory. The first to use the concept of "historical memory" began by historians who began to notice similar turns of the same events at certain intervals. The historical consciousness of society is the totality of messages, myths, stories transmitted from generation to generation. If we talk about how reliable is the historical memory of society as a whole, then it should be said that it is more a set of distorted reflections about the events of the past.

Most brightly, historical memory conveys negatively colored events, which had significant consequences. Most often, stories are told about injustice, oppression, bullying, when it comes to the historical memory of a particular people.

Historical memory is often mistakenly confused with the cultural, however, the distinction between concepts is great. Cultural memory is a set of common basic ideas of the whole society about the past, which are built on cultural monuments, literature, etc. At the same time, we should not underestimate the influence of all cultural factors on the person's perception of the past.

Manipulation of social memory

The ways and forms of preserving historical memory are very diverse, especially in a rapidly developing science. Before considering ways of preserving historical memory, it should be noted that they all have a huge influence on the person's perception of himself in history, as well as the interpretation of the past. Skilful manipulation of the past at the level of the state can lead to staggering consequences, because the nation can not turn to its true sources. Unfortunately, the manipulation of history by the authorities is very frequent, which has a very negative impact on the perception of the youth of the past by their people. Many facts are skilfully and deliberately concealed, but something completely disappears from the historical chronicle. It is very difficult to influence this, because the textbooks are historians. However, are they sure of the truthfulness of the knowledge that they received in a higher educational institution? This issue continues to be open.

Ways of preserving the memory of mankind

The ways and forms of preserving historical memory were created gradually. The first form of preservation of the memory of the society was rock paintings, according to which the younger generation learned about how their ancestor lived. Architecture had a very big influence on people before writing appeared. The development of writing marked the beginning of a huge process that continues to this day. Thanks to manuscripts, scrolls, the older generation transmitted important and secret information to their followers. No wonder they say: what is written with a pen - you can not cut out with an ax. Why did writing so sharply captured everyone and everything? Let's start with the fact that architecture was accessible only to the masters of their business. They did their work commissioned by wealthy nobles, because most of the architects were poor, but talented. It can be argued that there were also literate literate individuals, and this is indeed the case. But the reading and writing could be learned much faster, and it did not require special permits - write what you want. The clergymen were given the opportunity to transmit their thoughts, observations and teachings from generation to generation. Moreover, literate people began to write fiction, describing in it all the grief of their situation. The older generation had the opportunity to accumulate wisdom and pass it on to their children. Actually, literature is a powerful tool for preserving the social memory of society. Also important, but less significant forms of preserving social memory are: music, architecture, festivities.

With the advent of general education schools, an important place in the formation of the historical consciousness of mankind has become textbooks. It is to them that the students believe unquestioningly, and from there they draw all the information. Folklore, memoirs, textbooks, biographies, holidays, memory days, architecture have a tremendous impact on the formation of an integral cultural memory. In the modern world, the influence has only intensified, as the media, radio, television, and the Internet quickly developed. The society should understand that real historical facts rarely lie on the surface, therefore information from any source should be criticized and questioned logically.

Features

If you are interested in the question of what are the features of social memory, you should go back to the definition of the term, but we will not do that. The features of social memory (in contrast to the memory of a particular individual) is that the memory of any person is finite, it has a beginning, but will invariably come to an end. An individual can not be a bearer of historical memory. Speaking of social memory, one can never single out a few people or a group of people who are its carriers. The definition refers to a group of people, but the largest group of people - the society of the whole world. It is every individual who is a member of society that represents a small constituent of social memory. Cultural heritage is impossible without society, without a group of people, who interpret it in their own way and transmit it.

Many scholars emphasize that if social memory is a collection of individual people's memory, then the whole exceeds its individual components in importance. This is a very important conclusion, which leads to an understanding of the importance of the community of people, the mutual exchange of knowledge and worldwide interaction.

The features of social memory are reduced to one global understanding - it has no boundaries. It can cease to exist only if the whole of mankind disappears, to a single person. For even one person can recreate the whole past of his kind. Yes, it will be inadequate and inaccurate, but even in this form, social memory will continue to exist.

Who dealt with this issue?

It is important to note that for the first time the term "social memory" was used by the scientist from Estonia J. Rebane in one of the Soviet books on psychology. Actively developed this concept, as well as were involved in its introduction into the everyday life of scientists VA. Rebrin and Yu.A. Levada. It is these researchers that contributed to the fact that the term was recognized in the scientific community.

To date, the social memory of mankind is of interest to a huge number of scientists around the world. It should be noted that in recent years interest in memory as a phenomenon of the brain has grown noticeably. New research allows the creation of training programs that help to remember information in large volumes and for an acceptable time. As the information boom hit the society very rapidly, many people began to think about filtering the information received. After all, information garbage is simply limitless. If you pass through yourself all, you can get lost in the flow and bring the brain into a shock state.

It is very actual to study only the specific features that do not contain unnecessary information or lengthy reflections. More and more scientists from different spheres pay attention to the unique possibilities of human memory. At the same time, researchers emphasize that even half have not been studied yet.

In the last century, issues of social memory were dealt with: Maurice Halbwachs, J. Le Goff, B. Gene, Pierre Nora, P. Hatton and Aleida Assmann. These scientists have made a great contribution to the development of the notion of shared memory. Due to the fact that they drew attention to this significant and complex issue, its study continues to this day. At the moment, the following scientists are engaged in social memory in Russia: I.M. Saveliev, A.I. Filyushkin, L.P. Repin, О.B. Leontiev, N.E. Koposov. This is only a small part of a large group of scientists who devoted their lives to studying the phenomenon of collective memory of the world. The problem of this issue is also included in the curriculum in higher educational institutions. This is done not only to enlighten the youth on this issue, but also that she, having become interested in this topic, brings fresh ideas. In the USA, for example, the scientific journal "History & Memory" is regularly published, which highlights this topic, as well as all new ideas, ideas and discoveries.

Social mentality

The socio-historical memory of society is very clearly expressed in the mentality of peoples or individual social groups. Mentality is a small but important component of a huge complex of social memory. Any mentality is a living, changing, active form of society's memory, or, more simply, a cultural heritage of the household. The unconscious part of the social mentality of society consists of attitudes that are called archetypes. They represent a set of any stereotypes, opinions, judgments in any sphere, and have a great influence on a person's awareness of any event. In fact, archetypes largely determine the response of society to certain events. It also opens huge opportunities for manipulation, because the opinion and actions of the people or society can be deftly managed, referring to the supposedly true events of the past.

In the modern world, this is done very easily, because ordinary people do not have access to primary information. To learn about events can only be from the Internet or television, which provide information in a certain vision, which is completely subjective and untrue.

Examples of social memory

A vivid example of the social memory of the people can be seen in quite simple things: how the nation treats other nations, how it chooses a political leader, how to build its culture, how the younger generation fosters. Separately, each of these factors will not seem so significant to influence the social memory of society. However, this appearance is deceptive, because the sum of parts exceeds itself, representing something great. An example of the social memory of an individual person is vividly visible in his everyday habits, judgments and decisions that he takes. The influence of the environment, as well as knowledge of the past, even if they are not systematized, has a huge impact on human behavior in today's environment. Knowing about his great ancestors, a citizen is more active in the political, economic and social arena of the state. And citizens who are accustomed to being pushed around, become passive and apathetic, without even attempting to improve the state of things.

For each people, the issue of independence is very important, it is with respect to this issue that much can be said about which archetypes the specific people live. Many ethnic groups celebrate their deplorable situation, complaining about the worthless rulers and bad luck. But is it really, or is it just an ingrained habit to suffer from generation to generation and be subordinate?

Summing up the article, it is necessary to emphasize that every single person is a part of something more. It is worth remembering, teaching your children, choosing a country, taking an important decision. It is by today's actions that the next generation will be guided. And although the issues have not been sufficiently studied, it can be said with certainty that culture, social memory will develop quickly and prospectively.