Global History and National Historical Memory

Abstract

Globalization calls for the writing of global history. However, a fully "globalized" global history does not exist, just as there is no real "cultural globalization." The diversity of global culture determines the diversified nature of global history, that is, each nation has a global history in the light of its own history. For each nation, the basic function of historical study and writing is to preserve and transmit its own historical memory, and this continuation will not be terminated by either globalization or "global history." Moreover, the independent historical memory of each nation encompasses interpretations not only of its own history but also of those of other countries, as well as of world history as a whole.