In his piece “How Societies Remember” Paul Connerton takes the ideas discussed in Halbwach’s piece about group memory and places them in context with history and our society. Not only does he state that “groups provide individuals with frameworks within which their memories are localised” (37), but Connerton also believes that our memories must be conveyed and sustained through performances with these groups or else they will not be useful to us. Although Connerton states that “our experience of the present very largely depends upon our knowledge of the past” (2), we cannot use this knowledge unless we actively retrieve it and practice it. Connerton then goes on to discuss how this knowledge we have of the past is interwoven with historical reconstruction.
While social memory and historical reconstruction have a strong relationship, history is not dependent on the memories that groups have created. Connerton is careful to state that while emotions and memories can heavily influence the way that history is re read, there is a strong difference between the factual events that occurred and the ways in which they were remembered. Important events that occurred in the past are often going to be tainted by the memories of those retelling those stories.
After reading this section I was immediately reminded about the Vice documentary we had watched in class. The discord that exists over the statues of Confederate officers offers a good example of the issues that lay within historical reconstruction and social memory. While the memory of most southerners place these officers in a good light, historical facts prove otherwise to reveal that these men were slave owners. The followers of the Confederate flag are actively retrieving the memories of their ancestors and thinking back to the pride they had. To them, these men were admirable and honorable. However, when looking back one can easily say that these men were neither of those things. So not only does social memory influence historical reconstruction, but it can also attempt to change the way that history is told.
I found that this piece was helpful in elaborating on Halbwachs piece because I was able to think about group memory in a larger context. I found the comparison between memory and history to be very interesting because I have always known that memory influences history, but I have not thought about the extent to which they are intertwined. Connerton also asked questions about how the individual can retrieve his or her memories and it made me think about things that make me rediscover my own memories.