Plenitude, Scarcity, and the Production of Cultural Memory

Abstract

An argument is made for the need to conceptualize cultural memory, not
\nas merely derivative of individual psychology, but in terms of a ‘working
\nmemory’ (Assmann) that is constructed and reconstructed in public acts
\nof remembrance and evolves according to distinctly cultural mechanisms.
\nFoucault’s ‘scarcity principle’ is used to show the role of media in
\ngenerating shared memories through processes of selection, convergence,
\nrecursivity and transfer. This media-based approach, emphasizing the
\nway memories are communicated, circulated and exchanged, allows us to
\nsee how collective identities may be (re)defined through memorial
\npractices, and not merely reflected in them.