Cultural Memory Research Articles

Research on the Influence of Cultural Memory in Agricultural Heritage on Brand Loyalty

Agricultural heritage includes both material and immaterial vestiges of past agricultural practices that are directly tied to human agriculture. It holds great ecological, cultural, commercial, and tourism value. There are not many historical sites available for developing agricultural heritage tourism right now, and no experience is ideal. This study used sophisticated PLS-SEM techniques and SmartPLS 3.3.9 software to carefully examine data, examine measurement and structural models, rigorously test hypotheses, determine the validity and reliability of the findings, and investigate potential moderating effects. To address the critical issue of brand loyalty in agricultural heritage tourism, this study developed and tested a comprehensive impact route, which was supported by an examination of 427 visitors’ cultural memories and brand experiences, demonstrating their critical role in influencing brand loyalty. The findings show the importance of cultural memory in shaping travelers’ brand experiences and loyalty. Furthermore, due to their unique characteristics, various groups react differently to each phase of the brand loyalty effect route.

The making of Holocaust education in Britain, 1945–1991

ABSTRACT Despite the prevalence of research in Holocaust memory and Holocaust education, the historical development of British Holocaust education remains understudied. This paper reconstructs this history, presenting Anglo-Jewish efforts to teach about the Holocaust in the 1970s for the first time and using the concept of ‘cosmopolitan memory’ to explain its proliferation in the early 1980s. This article argues that the origins of contemporary Holocaust education should not be found in the increase of its teaching with the National Curriculum of 1991 but in the changing culture of memory and history teaching in the late 1970s and early 1980s.

Behind–the–scenes: Aspects of a film reception. The case of The Independence of Romania (Aristide Demetriade, Grigore Brezeanu, 1912) and The Rest is Silence (Nae Caranfil, 2007)

The foreign reader and viewer can find nothing better -or faster, given the exigencies of modern life- than the film as an introduction to the character, history, identity of a nation. With the awards garnered by directors like Cristian Mungiu and Nae Caranfil, new interest has been focused on Romania’s film, community, and history. That is why, an investigation regarding the Romanian early cinema would be necessary in the field of improving education from abroad. The purpose of this paper is to analyze a number of aspects, such as the importance of incorporating a course on cinema in foreign language teaching, one of the major goals being the opportunity to educate the students in the field of movies and thus offering them distinct cultural perspectives. However, this article does not plea for the need of a pedagogy of media studies in higher education, given the complexity of the topic. It rather aims to focus on the history of two Romanian movies: The Independence of Romania (1912) and The Rest is Silence (2007) and highlight the reasons why an urban icon of the city of Tampere is called “Plevna”. This paper sets out to analyze the two mentioned Romanian films who proved to be interesting for Finnish students since they depict an episode of our common history, the 1877 War of Independence (The Russo-Turkish War). At the same time, the paper aims to familiarize them with the allure of the event when Romanian and Finnish soldiers fought shoulder to shoulder on the same front, at Plevna. The Romanian film, The Independence of Romania shot in 1911-1912, was the first feature film to be kept almost entirely in the Romanian National Film Archive; the other one, The Rest Is Silence directed by Nae Caranfil (and representing Romania’s first entry into the 2009 Oscars) and inspired by The Independence of Romania wanted to show the real story of our first full-length filmmaking. Therefore, this latter film contains like a palimpsest an older mute movie, discovered in Romanian Movie Archive. The current article draws upon the insights provided by the Finnish students after watching the two films and summarizes their conclusions. In other words, these lines provide a behind-the-scenes glimpse of what they learned and discovered. The films were met with positive reviews, and we tried to follow the students’ spontaneous reactions and emotions. An important part of our work was to put in perspective the two inspiring patriotic marches which are commemorating the departure of the Romanian and Finnish soldiers at Plevna in the Balkan’s theater of War: Drum bun! (farewell song composed by Ştefan Nosievich to the lyrics of Romanian patriot Vasile Alecsandri) and Kauan on Kärsitty / Long have suffered, a well-known patriotic song of the Finnish Guard (Suomen kaarti). This article tangentially discusses the role of perception in educational activity, which is presented under two correlated aspects, namely: the activity carried out in this sense by the teacher and by the students and the role of cinema in creating cultural memory from a general perspective, in a way that transforms the manner we think of film and its social importance. This article starts from a very particular point of view, as we discovered by pure chance the name of Plevna building in Tampere, and goes to a more general aspect, which is the battle of Plevna, one of the most important episodes from Romania’s modern history.

Narratives of a Nation: Iraqi Literature in the Post-2003 Era

This review study offers developments of post-2003 Iraqi literature towards the concept of national identity while relieving socio-political turmoil. As such, the review study notices the synthesis of different scholarly approaches emphasizing themes and narrative shifts in contemporary works of Iraqi fiction. In such a context, diasporic literature and ethno-religious identity by Yasmeen Hanoosh in 2019 are differed from Al-Musawi in 2020 and Abbas in 2020 while discussing trauma and displacement both within Iraq and its diaspora. Khudayir 2017 looks at narrative techniques since the year 2003, Ali 2019 looks at literature as a preserving medium of the national identity from foreign influence, Ghareeb 2018 is more concerned with the cultural memory, and Abbas 2020 with displacement. Generally, it is apparent that Iraqi literature transforms from the pre-2003 dominant secular credentials to diversification in the marginalised identities, in addition to the role played by diasporic writers who brought about changes to what previously was a single-mode narrative. In such a nuanced analysis, it allows the representation of the way in which most of those themes are narrated by Iraqi authors-trauma, resilience, identity : contemporary Iraqi fiction is full of a life and transformative potential in building up cultural resilience and social justice.

Maria Leopoldina between History and Memory

Abstract In this article, I study certain forms of public use of the past in the context of the bicentennial of Brazil’s Independence, focusing mainly on a specific case: the cultural memory of Maria Leopoldina. By analyzing a wide range of materials, I argue that Leopoldina’s character gains a prominent role in social imaginary in the context of the bicentennial commemorations. Also, I suggest that this is due to the transformations in Brazilian historiography during the period and to new popular demands regarding the national past.

Heritage and Reinvention: A Cultural Narrative Study of Han and Tang Ceremonial Ceramics from the Perspective of Cultural Memory

Cultural memory is the interactive expression of past historical memory, identity recognition, and cultural continuity. The cultural inheritance of Han and Tang ceremonial ceramics is not only a simple reminiscence and "replication" of the past culture, but also a cultural reinvention rooted in the present and future, aiming to remedy the erosion and dissolution suffered in daily life. Constructing cultural inheritance through cultural memory requires reshaping memory in the context of "living inheritance" combining the cultural connotation of Han and Tang ceremonial ceramics with the conditions of the times, and endowing them with new contemporary significance. Through the living inheritance and modern reinvention of Han dynasty ceremonial ceramics, cultural memory forms a cultural transmission chain, identifying the cultural genes of Han and Tang ceremonial ceramics applicable in contemporary China, and facilitating their creative transformation and innovative development.

Towards an Understanding of Embodiment in Digital Space – A Practical Theological Perspective

Abstract This article presents a theoretical exploration of the notion of embodiment as it pertains to practical theology and lived religion. In the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic, religious communities responded by increasing engagement with digital spaces and digital forms of worship. This necessarily challenges traditional notions around the idea of embodiment and how the body is understood in non-corporeal religious space. Contemporary memorial culture and its ritualised behaviour provides an effective lens with which to observe and study the evolving role and understanding of digital embodiment. This article uses a ritual perspective to deconstruct traditional notions around the corporeal body and explores the role of memory as an important consideration at the nexus of offline-online life.

War, terror and mourning. Cultural memory in the inner dialogue

ABSTRACT This text compares four essays dealing with war, state terror in dictatorships, social violence such as racism, mourning and the avoidance of mourning. It shows that dictatorships share similarities in their techniques of manipulation, linguistic style and reference to history. They seek to exploit national myths through manipulative alienation. Myths are a central element of cultural memory, and their effect can be understood through a model of internal dialogue. This dialogue determines whether the regime's attempts at manipulation are successful.

Los vestigios del barco negrero en la memoria histórica de los afrodescendientes

The black ships were the symbol of the slave trade, and their presence unleashed a series of elements that make up part of Afro-descendant culture. The objective of this essay is to describe the journey of slaves on the black ship, as well as to iden-tify the traces left by this journey in Afro-descendant historical and cultural memory. The journey was cha-racterized by the brutality of the pillage on the coasts of Africa, the mandatory marks and baptisms to which they were subjected. During the journey, rebellions were common, and interpreters helped to calm them. The massacres of the Zong ship and the struggle of the survivors of the Clotilda remain in history to give way to the myths and rituals that endure today in commu-nities and in the memory of Afro-descendants

The Battle of the Statues in Berlin, 1859–71: Reflections on the Public Image and Standing of the German Classical Authors

ABSTRACT The article examines the process that led to the erection in 1871 of the monument to Friedrich Schiller in the Gendarmenmarkt in Berlin. In the twelve years that passed between the conception of the monument and the unveiling, the project was dogged by disputes about its legitimacy and the form it should take. The undercurrent of these disputes was political, reflecting tensions between liberal and conservative opinion in the period. After tracing the history of the project, the article concludes with broader reflections on the place of public monuments in the commemorative culture of our own time.

Examination of Digitalized Non-Heritage Apparel Design Using CLO3D: Case Study of Ningbo Gold and Silver Color Embroidery

Driven by the wave of digitalization and fashion, traditional handicrafts in intangible cultural heritage (ICH) have experienced a remarkable transformation in the existing social value coordinate system. On the one hand, as a key carrier of the historical and cultural memory of the nation and the state, intangible cultural heritage is faced with many challenges of preservation and inheritance; on the other hand, the rapid development of digital technology provides innovative solutions for the modernization of traditional arts. This paper uses Ningbo gold, silver and color embroidery as a case study to explore the application of CLO3D software technology in the design of nonheritage apparel products and shows nonheritage crafts through digital simulation technology, which is not only the future development direction of the apparel industry but also the reconstruction of the apparel form and the use of function, aiming to assess its impact on nonheritage protection and innovation and to find a new path for the digital inheritance of nonheritage.

Resounding Shadows

Abstract This creative-critical essay is a refracted meditation on the spirit of sound and shadow-work through SA Smythe’s original sound composition and performance activation {spirit forged} (2023), with accompanying visual documentation. The work was in part a response to Amartey Golding’s Spring 2023 installation, In the comfort of embers, commissioned by the Power Plant Contemporary Art Gallery in Tkaronto. Smythe reflects on the ecology of thought that laid the foundation for their own transmedia theories and practices, including moments of ancestral whispers, the interplay of light and darkness, sonic alchemy, and abiding reverence for the problematic of Black belonging. Delving into sound and its intimate vessels in a meditation on cultural memory, “Resounding Shadows” revels in liminal fusion of form, inviting the reader to join the traversal of spirit work where personal and collective journeys intertwine.

Banana Ketchup

Banana ketchup is an iconic marker of Filipino cultural identity. Across the homeland/diaspora divide, the Filipino public celebrates the memory of Maria Y. Orosa, the food scientist, early immigrant to the American West Coast, and anti-Japanese guerrilla fighter, for her creation of the country’s favorite sauce or sawsawan. The history of this beloved food item is often recounted as a narrative of scientific innovation, anticolonial resistance, and sovereignty. This essay explores the work that such narratives do, noting not only how they are invoked as frames for Filipinos and Filipino Americans’ critiques of gustatory coloniality but also how they can themselves veil other political realities deserving of attention. At banana ketchup manufacturing plants in the Philippines, laborers and allies reimagine the condiment not as a proud symbol of identity but rather as a vessel of labor exploitation, union busting, and police brutality. This alternative narrative is often eclipsed by modes of storytelling that elevate Orosa’s ingenious substitution of a native fruit like bananas for an imported product like tomatoes as an emblem of gustatory independence. Documenting an essential piece of Filipino food history yet to receive much scholarly attention, this essay ultimately asks how ways of remembering food history can themselves become ways of forgetting. Its aim is to offer an intervention toward bringing cultural memory and contemporary labor struggles between the Filipino homeland and diaspora into political relation.

Rising from the Ruins: A Case Study of East German Memory Work, 1983–1984

ABSTRACT: This article focuses on the photo exhibition “Rising from the Ruins” hosted by the East Berlin tourist office. Opening in 1983 in the ruins of a bombed-out church, the exhibition contrasted the rubble of 1945 Berlin with the city’s postwar rebuilding, and in 1984, 1930 was added as a third comparative. Laying out the exhibition in its first two years while building on theory of GDR memory culture, this analysis argues that in this period 1983–1984, state control over the narrative presented faltered. As such, the exhibition can be viewed as a precursor of the eventual public rejection of GDR memory culture.

Inter-Viewing Socialist Dancing Bodies

In October 2021, I interviewed three Chinese professional dancers who had completed undergraduate dance degrees in China and pursued their MFA in Dance degrees in the US. Their bi-cultural experiences and unique training narratives motivated me to re-search the Chinese dancing bodies beyond the borders. In this article, I draw on Robin Nelson’s methodologies of Practice/Performance as Research and Diana Taylor’s Performance Studies theory of the archive to examine the performativity of my interviewees’ dance experiences and my own educational experiences in both the US and in China. I explore how Chinese dancers, with their distinctive, yellow-skinned appearance, embody the national spirit and cultural traditions of China as they navigate various dance practices across the diverse landscape of the United States. Through their daily movements, these dancers inhabit a space of in-betweenness, leaving indelible but untraceable traces of their experiences on their bodies. My analysis delves into how these dancers, through their encounters in the field of dance and performance in the US, reinterpret their cultural memories, social identities, and socialist ideologies through choreography. Drawing from my own cross-border experiences between the US and China, I approach the examination of their performances through interviews, textual analysis, and movement interpretations.

A Study on the Culture and Values of the Westward Migration Festival of the Sibe Ethnic Group in China

The Westward Migration Festival presents the image of the patriotic historical feat of the Sibe people’s westward migration to Xinjiang and garrisoning of the frontier through sacrificial ceremonies such as the sacrifice of Karun and the public sacrifice of Tibet, as well as celebratory activities such as the Zhulun Hulanbi, the Beilun dance, the archery competition, and the goat-carrying competition. Its cultural space reproduces the historical memory of the ethnicity, illustrates the patriotic dedication of the ethnic groups, the mentality of harmony and coexistence, and the sense of self-reliance and self-existence, and plays a role in enhancing the cultural memory of the ethnic and consolidating the consensus of the ethnic culture. Through the benign interaction of festivals, the ideological foundation is laid for the construction of the Chinese ethnic community consciousness in the western border areas, the value norms are provided, and the social foundation is stabilized.

FAMILY MEMORY AS A FACTOR IN THE FORMATION OF CIVIC IDENTITY OF YOUTH. SOCIOLOGICAL ANALYSIS

The article analyzes and summarizes the results of a qualitative sociological study of the family memory of young people. generation of “centennials”, using the example of students of Mordovian State University, implemented by the method of in-depth interviews in order to identify the main characteristics of the family memory of young people in the context of the formation of their civic identity. Regular interaction of the family with wider communities of memory, as well as institutional “places of memory”, in modern Russia has been established, including the exchange of information and material evidence of memory through digital and traditional archives, museums, local history publications, the media, etc., construction “assemblage points” between significant people and events in the history of the family, on the one hand, and the country, on the other, through which the historical past of the country is included in the family narrative, and the family's past in the public memorial culture. The similarities and differences between the basic structure of informants' family memory narratives and the official narrative of Russian memory policy are shown. It was revealed that the family memory of “centennials” mediates the individual's connection not with individual social groups, formed in the form of mnemonic communities, but with the community of memory of an indefinite set of people, which can be correlated with the category of “people” as a state-civil community

The Transmission and Literacy Role of Cultural Memory of Traditional Houses in the Context of Rural Revitalization

This research is part of the “Ancient Xuzhou Houses in China: Cultural Memory, Symbol and Process Reconstruction in the Context of Rural Revitalization” project. Traditional houses contain a large amount of cultural value, literacy role, and historical memory. In order to sort out the transfer process more clearly between memory and people, this study set three research objectives. First, spatial memory transmission and literacy role needs to be studied and analyzed. Then, on this basis, we will further study the method of spatial memory transmission and literacy role. Finally, the appropriate medium for spatial memory transmission is analyzed. This study used descriptive analysis to summarize and discuss the results. The results show that spatial memory transmission and literacy is a process of maintaining and transmitting social and cultural values through the use and evolution of architecture and spatial design over time. Symbols in the memory space of residential buildings are containers for storing memories, just like a mobile hard drive that records relevant memory information. Residential buildings and people are like two devices that convey information and communicate through symbols. After comparison, in the dimension of cultural memory, symbols are more social and cultural and are more suitable as a medium for transmitting spatial memory and literacy role under cultural identity. This article explains the relationship between symbols and spatial memory, through spatial memory transmission to describe how common memories are shared and reproduced among collective members through cultural memory, literacy role and symbolic translation. It can transmit cultural and historical memories between different generations and acquires the importance of spatial positioning and environmental interaction in transmitting cultural memory.

“Lunar New Year” by A. Parkau: cultural memory

This article considers the Russian émigré literature in China in the aspect of implementing the principles of intercultural communication and interaction between the cultures of Russia and China. Scholars began to study it in the 1990s, and currently the work of many Russian writers from Harbin and Shanghai remains unexplored. Features of the interaction of national traditions are analyzed in the poem “Lunar New Year” (Chinese New Year) by the poet of the Russian diaspora — A. Parkau, published in the poetic book Unquenchable Fire. Her artistic world still is not in the focus of the scholars. The poem “Lunar New Year,” included in the Bitter Paths cycle, is the artistic description of the Chinese holiday. Its content is determined by Chinese culture, and its artistic form is determined by the Russian poetic tradition. The article traces the connections of the poem with Chinese culture and philosophy, on the one hand, and with the contexts of the Russian poetry of the 19th century, expressed in poetic meters, on the other. The authors of the article examine the compositional and semantic principles of organizing a book of poems and come to the conclusion that the analyzed poem is included simultaneously in several cycles — calendar, reflecting the life of nature, and social, expressing the existential ideas of emigrants, expressed with the motives of loneliness, and fear of death, among others.

Effect of metabolically divergent pig breeds and tissues on mesenchymal stem cell expression patterns during adipogenesis

BackgroundUnraveling the intricate and tightly regulated process of adipogenesis, involving coordinated activation of transcription factors and signaling pathways, is essential for addressing obesity and related metabolic disorders. The molecular pathways recruited by mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) during adipogenesis are also dependent on the different sources of the cells and genetic backgrounds of donors, which contribute to the functional heterogeneity of the stem cells and consequently affect the developmental features and fate of the cells.MethodsIn this study, the alteration of transcripts during differentiation of synovial mesenchymal stem cells (SMSCs) derived from fibrous synovium (FS) and adipose synovial tissue (FP) of two pig breeds differing in growth performance (German Landrace (DL)) and fat deposition (Angeln Saddleback (AS)) was investigated. SMSCs from both tissues and breeds were stimulated to differentiate into adipocytes in vitro and sampled at four time points (day 1, day 4, day 7 and day 14) to obtain transcriptomic data.ResultsWe observed numerous signaling pathways related to the cell cycle, cell division, cell migration, or cell proliferation during early stages of adipogenesis. As the differentiation process progresses, cells begin to accumulate intracellular lipid droplets and changes in gene expression patterns in particular of adipocyte-specific markers occur. PI3K-Akt signaling and metabolic pathways changed most during adipogenesis, while p53 signaling and ferroptosis were affected late in adipogenesis. When comparing MSCs from FS and FP, only a limited number of differentially expressed genes (DEGs) and enriched signaling pathways were identified. Metabolic pathways, including fat, energy or amino acid metabolism, were highly enriched in the AS breed SMSCs compared to those of the DL breed, especially at day 7 of adipogenesis, suggesting retention of the characteristic metabolic features of their original source, demonstrating donor memory in culture. In contrast, the DL SMSCs were more enriched in immune signaling pathways.ConclusionsOur study has provided important insights into the dynamics of adipogenesis and revealed metabolic shifts in SMSCs associated with different cell sources and genetic backgrounds of donors. This emphasises the critical role of metabolic and genetic factors as important indications and criteria for donor stem cell selection.