Keynote | Simon Sleight | The history of 'collective memory'

What is 'collective memory', and how has Wikipedia changed it?
wikihistories.net/2023/04/27/...
In this keynote from wikihistories 2023, Dr Simon Sleight offers a longer perspective on the concept of ‘collective memory’, to chart the interface between historians and the field of memory studies, and to explore a contemporary and real-world example of collective memory in action. Looking beyond and before the digital realm as the default domain for comprehending the construction of social meaning, I examine how group understandings of the past have long been advanced and edited by historians and the public alike. From this, a conceptual apparatus has emerged for tackling the ruptures and harmonies entailed by reflecting collectively. Turning to London, the talk is rounded out by focus in on the national Covid Memorial Wall on the Thames, a striking instance of the genesis, boundaries, maintenance and meaning of collective memory in both the analogue and digital worlds.
This paper session was part of wikihistories 2023, the annual conference of the wikihistories project: wikihistories.net/conference/...
#digitalhumanities #memory #wikipedia
#wikipedia #digitalhumanities #publichistory #memory