title: On the cultural constitution of collective memory.
abstract: The study of collective memory needs to take into consideration the cultural context in which the remembering takes place. In this article, I analyse how functional variations of collective memory across cultures may influence the processes, practices, and outcomes of collective remembering. I then discuss the transitory nature of culture in affecting collective memory across an individual's lifespan as well as across time and generations. I borrow recent findings from cross-cultural research on autobiographical memory to illustrate the cultural effects, and propose a new approach to studying collective memory in which the individual, the collective, and the culture are treated as a single unit of analysis.
authors.affiliation: Department of Human Development, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853-4401, USA.
authors.forename: Qi
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Wang
mesh_terms: D003431:Cross-Cultural Comparison; D003469:Culture; D004644:Emotions / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D008568:Memory / Q000502:physiology*; D012649:Self Concept; D013997:Time Factors