Essay On Historical Memory

When it comes to America’s history, I believe there is much to be said that often is left out. Much of this I can reference back to a class that I was fortunate enough to take at Rutgers as a junior, Politics and Culture. The class had a very interesting aspect, which concerned historical memory. Historical memory can be defined as state sponsored collective memory. In order to understand this concept it is important to first understand the concept of collective memory. Collective memory is the emotional quality that is given to past events. It is not so much history based on fact, but instead how a certain society remembers their history. Essentially historical memory is a collection of narratives about the past that state-sponsored elites turn into non-negotiable facts, such as the way Loewe critiques the textbooks provided to students. These students then in turn take what the professor teaches and the textbook preaches at face value as absolute fact, essentially eradicating the possibility for negotiation and debate.
The reason that this is possible, is because of the power such elites have. Historical memory is used by these elites to shape the way a certain society views
In a positive light, historical memory can be used in such ways as appeasement, as in the case of the Scots being given their highland “traditions”, even though many of these traditions did not stem from the highlands of Scotland at all, such as the kilt. On the other end of the spectrum, historical memory can be used in a negative light. This is clearly the point that Loewe is illustrating in his book. The treatment of Native Americans and the gross incompetence our historical textbooks to even begin to provide the other side’s argument is painfully clear. It is very possible for such power held by elites to be abused. The use of shaping ones own history rather than relying on fact could be a detrimental scenario very