History and Memory

[stormdog]

In an interview on NPR, Carol Gluck, professor of Japanese History at Columbia, made a statement whose profundity struck me immediately. Politicians, she said, don't deal with history; they deal with memory. There's so very much there to think about and apply to numerous areas of interest.

Comments

[mondhasen]

Wonderful quote! They also deal with mis-memory...

[stormdog]

Indeed, though mis-memory, I would argue, is actually just memory itself. Memory is a social construction.

[anais_pf]

It's only a social construction if communicated among more than one person.

[stormdog]

In the case of politics, numerous people are inherently involved. In the case of memory in general though, you're right. Though I think there's more to it as well. My perception of myself and my past is formed by my relationships with other people, by my self-identity, and by other things. My memory, even when it's entirely within my mind, is performative to some degree, conscious or not, and is shaped by my social experiences and expectations.