Halbwachs main argument appears to be that memory is a social product and that the individual memory is dependent on society. He argues that our ‘collective memories’ are influenced by the environment around us and that the collective (i.e. family, class, nation, religious identity) decides for us what is valuable to remember. “We find ourselves to be part of a group where our position is determined not by personal feelings but by rules and customs independent of us that existed before us.” (Halbwach, 55) Here, he is suggesting the collective memory not only tells the members of its community or society what they can remember, but that it is also controlling how an individual recalls a certain event and the details involved.
I agree with Halbwachs argument that our immediate environments have the ability to influence and manipulate our memories. Humans are innately social creatures whose primary objective is to find a group or community where which they feel a sense of belonging. This neatly ties into his theory of the “collective memory” whereby our memories are a social product that depend on our relationships with other humans to be constructed in a certain way. Social interactions deeply fascinate me as I the human personality is so intricate and we are always so concerned nowadays with our identities and how we see ourselves, yet we also adjust our characterises and behaviours often depending on the group of people we are with. Do core value systems truly exist? Can something be said to represent your belief system when we can’t even be sure that we have one? Why does the construction of our identity become so fluid over time? All of these questions deeply intrigue me, and I look forward to learning more about them.