Cultural memory

Cultural memory is a concept that draws heavily on European social anthropology, especially German and French. It is not well established in the English-speaking world. It posits that memory is not just an individual, private experience but also part of the collective domain, which both shapes the future and our understanding of the past. It has become a topic in both historiography (Pierre Nora, Richard Terdiman) and cultural studies (e.g., Susan Stewart). These emphasize cultural memory’s process (historiography) and its implications and objects (cultural studies), respectively.

Two schools of thought have emerged: one articulates that the present shapes our understanding of the past, while the other assumes that the past has an influence on our present behavior. It has, however, been pointed out (most notably by Guy Beiner) that these two approaches are not necessarily mutually exclusive.