Re-Collection: A Proposal for Refining the Study of Collective Memory and its Places

• Published in: Communication theory Vol. 19; no. 3; pp. 311 - 336
• Main Authors: Aden, Roger C., Han, Min Wha, Norander, Stephanie, Pfahl, Michael E., Pollock Jr, Timothy P., Young, Stephanie L.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Oxford, UK Blackwell Publishing Ltd 01-08-2009; Oxford University Press
• Subjects: Brain; Case studies; Collective Memory; Communication; Communication research; Criticism; Discourse; Group dynamics; McGee, Michael; Meaning; Memory; Rhetoric; Social psychology; Social Theories; Theory
• ISSN: 1050-3293; 1468-2885
• DOI: 10.1111/j.1468-2885.2009.01345.x

This article outlines a theory of re-collection as a means of enhancing and enriching the study of collective memory. Re-collection seeks to generate insights into two underdeveloped threads of collective memory research: (a) its processual and dynamic nature and (b) its largely emplaced character. In particular, this article argues that places of memory are not finished texts, but sites of re-collection in which individuals and groups selectively cull and organize re-collected versions of the past. Grounded in Michael McGee's concept of rhetorical fragments, the theory of re-collection involves attending to discursive fragments of memory that circulate within and around the memory site-as well as the fragments brought to the site by individuals and collectives. Re-collection thus requires analytical tools beyond those traditionally used in rhetorical criticism-as is illustrated in a case study proposal for exploring the process of re-collection surrounding the Space Window in Washington National Cathedral. [PUBLICATION ABSTRACT]