On the Question of Cultural Memory and Identity in the Works of J. Assman

Abstract

This article discusses the views of J. Assman on the essence of cultural memory and the identity formed on its basis. Identity can be viewed as the result of reflection on the unconscious self-image. J. Assman established a connection between personal and collective identity. Individual consciousness can be defined as sociogenic, not only because it arises in the process of socialization, but also because it creates a community and is the bearer of a collective self-image. J. Assman highlights the difference between individual and personal identity. Both aspects of self-identity are sociogenic and culturally determined, they arise in the mind, formed by the language, values and norms of a particular culture. Identity is a product of social construction and therefore always acts as a cultural identity. The difference between a collective identity and a different one is that the second one is symbolic. Collective identities belong to the realm of the social imagination. Collective identity also exists only to the extent that individuals recognize it as their own. Societies need the past for their self-determination. Awareness and recognition of belonging to a particular culture is a cultural identity. Personal identity is achieved through communication and interaction with other people, through living with them in a common symbolic world of meaning. Culture becomes the second nature of man, man adapts to the symbolic world of meanings. Culture creates a space suitable for human existence and is a prerequisite for the formation of personal and individual identity. The semantic horizons shared by people become a symbolic expression of we-identity. Of great importance is speech and the general system of symbols – the main means of forming groups. The complex of community transmitted in symbols is a cultural formation – something through which a collective identity is created and preserved in the change of generations. The sense of community is generated by the circulation of common meaning.