Hirst and Manier

Question 1

How do Hirst and Manier understand collective memory?

Answer 1

As “shared individual memories.” They reconcile the view that (1) collective memories are located “in the world” (Assmann’s objectivized culture) and (2) in the individual. For them, collective memory is located in the interaction between (1) and (2)

Question 2

What approach do Hirst and Manier suggest to study collective memory?

Answer 2

An epidemiological or systems approach that considers memory as a “virus” that is transmitted, converges, and is stable

Question 3

What factors should be considered and balanced in Hirst and Manier’s approach to collective memory?

Answer 3

Not only the social, cultural and political factors, but also the biological and cognitive mechanisms in individuals. Bottom line: not just a monument, but its efficacy. HOW the monument is received, perceived or affects a group (ex. Lincoln remembered as “great,” monument depicts him as “great”)
Interaction between the two

Question 4

What methodologies do Hirst and Manier recommend?

Answer 4

1. surveys – to detect patterns across a group
2. systems approach – consider each variable in relation to the whole it belongs to (ex. ethnography)
3. laboratory – controlled environment that departs from observations “in the real world”
4. ecologically valid studies – less control over variables

Question 5

What can psychology contribute to collective memory according to Hirst and Manier?

Answer 5

1. it can determine the motives for the transmission of memories and explore the effects of rhetoric, the speaker, or the like on an audience
2. It can determine when convergence is difficult or easy (example: it’s easier when audience is a member of the same group as speaker)
3. It can determine why some memories are easier to retain than others

Question 6

What do Hirst and Manier mean by transmission?

Answer 6

The spread of a memory across a group. This can occur when several people have different memories of same event, or when a group possesses information that is communicated to others.

Question 7

What do Hirst and Manier mean by design process?

Answer 7

“the means by which sites of memory, mnemonic tools, practices…are constructed, appropriated, and how they are used to shape and reshape memory”

Question 8

What do Hirst and Manier mean by convergence?

Answer 8

The “union” of memories into a shared rendering

Question 9

What do Hirst and Manier mean by stability?

Answer 9

The stability of a memory across time

Question 10

What are the three components of a collective memory?

Answer 10

Transmission, convergence, and stability