Habits of collective memory.

Abstract

Collective memory can generally be defined as an account of the past that is shared by members of a group and is part of their identity project. In this paper, we attempt to discuss collective memory in terms of narrative, schema, and habit, three constructs that reflect an underlying assumption that humans are "cognitive misers" who gravitate toward ways to handle large amounts of information in efficient ways. Narrative makes it possible to grasp together a series of events into a meaningful whole, and collective memory emerges when members of a group share the same narrative tools. Schemata in the form of "narrative templates" are posited underlying codes that provide insight into patterns of narratives in collective memory. Lastly, habit is what drives much of human behavior: it allows us to perform a behavior unconsciously and automatically upon mere exposure to a context cue, which in turn allows for increased ease and efficiency in everything we do. Together, narrative, schema and habit provide insight into the building blocks of collective memory and why it can be so notoriously resistant to change. While our account may raise more questions than answers, we believe that this could be a fruitful and novel approach to the study of collective memory and hope it can contribute to both theoretical discussion and practical efforts to address one of today's most vexing issues.