History and Collective Memory: the Succeeding Incarnations of an Evolving Relationship

Mihai Stelian RUSU
History and Collective Memory: the Succeeding Incarnations of an Evolving Relationship
Instituția: 
Babeş-Bolyai University, Cluj, Faculty of Sociology and Social Work
Email autor: 
mihai.rusu@ubbcluj.ro
Abstract: 

Collective memory, despite its status as patrimonial notion within sociological tradition, recently escaped this rigid disciplinary straitjacket, becoming a cardinal concept in the contemporary discourse of social sciences and humanities. Understanding the nature of collective memory cannot be reached before clarifying the relation between memory and history. This paper analyzes the different configurations under which the relationship between history and collective memory evolved throughout time. The central argument advances the idea that collective memory crystallizes at the area of confluence between history and mythistory, taking historical facts from the former, and organizing them according to the mythical logic of the latter. [1]

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[1] This work was possible with the financial support of the Sectoral Operational Programme for Human Resources Development 2007-2013, co-financed by the European Social Fund, under the project number POSDRU/107/1.5/S/76841 with the title „Modern Doctoral Studies: Internationalization and Interdisciplinarity.”