'Collective memory': A memoir and prospect

Abstract

This article reflects on the past, present and future states of social memory studies. Despite the proliferation of work employing the term `collective memory', the field retains the `non-paradigmatic, transdisciplinary, centerless' qualities identified in 1998. As a result, this essay celebrates the appearance of Memory Studies along with a number of other endeavors promising systematization and institutionalization in the vast literature on social memory.