Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of Contributors
- PART I IN MIND, CULTURE, AND HISTORY: A SPECIAL PERSPECTIVE
- PART II HOW DO MEMORIES CONSTRUCT OUR PAST?
- PART III HOW DO WE BUILD SHARED COLLECTIVE MEMORIES?
- PART IV HOW DOES MEMORY SHAPE HISTORY?
- 9 Historical Memories
- 10 The Memory Boom: Why and Why Now?
- 11 Historians and Sites of Memory
- PART V HOW DOES MEMORY SHAPE CULTURE?
- Index
- References
9 - Historical Memories
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 June 2012
Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of Contributors
- PART I IN MIND, CULTURE, AND HISTORY: A SPECIAL PERSPECTIVE
- PART II HOW DO MEMORIES CONSTRUCT OUR PAST?
- PART III HOW DO WE BUILD SHARED COLLECTIVE MEMORIES?
- PART IV HOW DOES MEMORY SHAPE HISTORY?
- 9 Historical Memories
- 10 The Memory Boom: Why and Why Now?
- 11 Historians and Sites of Memory
- PART V HOW DOES MEMORY SHAPE CULTURE?
- Index
- References
Summary
After the attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon on September 11, 2001, the Princeton historian Bernard Lewis explained the thinking and behavior of Muslims to the American public in a New Yorker article (Lewis, 2001). Lewis wrote that, unlike Americans, Muslims know and care about history:
In current American usage, the phrase “that's history” is commonly used to dismiss something as unimportant, of no relevance to current concerns. … Middle Easterner's perception of history is nourished from the pulpit, by the schools, and by the media, and although it may be – indeed, often is – slanted and inaccurate, it is nevertheless vivid and powerfully resonant. (p. 51)
Lewis implies that Americans' (and presumably most Westerners') historical memories are not “nourished from the pulpit, by the schools, and by the media.” He further implies that Americans' historical memories are accurate, even if they do not care much about history.
In this chapter, we dispute each of these claims. Muslims are not unique in their use or abuse of history. People's memories of the histories of the national, ethnic, or religious groups to which they belong (ingroups) are often tilted in favor of their ingroups and against other groups. We present evidence that historical memories are skewed, in part, because children and adults are presented with selective and biased depictions of the past. Educators, religious leaders, politicians, and media all play an important role by influencing the knowledge available.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- Memory in Mind and Culture , pp. 223 - 237Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2009
References
(1998). When a pope asks forgiveness: The mea culpas of Pope John Paul II ( Trans.). Boston: St. Paul Books & Media.Google Scholar
Apology for 1893 rebellion (1993, November 17). The New York Times Online. Retrieved April 18, 2007 from http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9F0CE7D8153BF934A25752C1A965958260.
(1999). Color coded: A legal history of racism in Canada. Toronto, Ontario, Canada: University of Toronto Press.Google Scholar
(2000). The guilt of nations: Restitution and negotiating historical injustices. New York: Norton.Google Scholar
(1932). Remembering: A study in experimental and social psychology. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
, & (2006). Transmitting collective memories of historical events. Unpublished data: University of Waterloo.Google Scholar
, , , & (2007). Reactions to a real apology for a historical injustice. Unpublished data: University of Waterloo.Google Scholar
, , & (2007). Government apologies for historical injustices. Manuscript submitted for publication.
, & (2009). Principled ideology or racism: Why do modern racists oppose race-based social justice programs?Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 45(1), 258–261.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
, & (2004). Collective guilt: International perspectives. New York: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
(Ed.). (1999). When sorry isn't enough: The controversy over apologies and reparations for human injustice. New York: New York University Press.
“Compensation Offered”. (2006, June 22). PM unveils redress for Head Tax on Chinese. CBC news online. Retrieved March 22, 2007 from: http://www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2006/06/22/chinese-apology.html.
“Demotion Expected”. (2007, July 27). Demotion expected for role in Tillman case. The New York Times Online. Retrieved July 30, 2007 from http://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/27/us/27tillman.html?_r=1&oref=slogin.
(2003). A theoretical overview of memory and conflict. In , & (Eds.), The role of memory in ethnic conflict (pp. 9–33). New York: Palgrave Macmillan.Google Scholar
, , , & (2006). Antecedents and consequences of group-based guilt: The effects of ingroup identification. Group Processes & Intergroup Relations, 9, 325–338.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
, & (2006). Calling power to account: Law, reparations and the Chinese Head Tax. Toronto, Ontario, Canada: University of Toronto Press.Google Scholar
, , & (2002). Self and social identity. Annual Review of Psychology, 53, 161–186.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
(1979). America revised: History schoolbooks in the twentieth century. New York: Little, Brown, and Company.Google Scholar
(1997). Commemorating. In , , & (Eds.), Collective memory of political events: Social psychological perspectives (pp. 103–127). Hillsdale, NJ, England: Lawrence Erblaum Associates.Google Scholar
(2007, January 16). Slavery apology ignites legislative debate. The Daily Progress. Retrieved July 26, 2007 from http://www.dailyprogress.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=CDP/MGArticle/CDP_BasicArticle&c=MGArticle&cid=1149192673260.
“Government Offers Token Regret.” (2004, February 12). Government offers token of regret to Chinese. The New Zealand Herald. Retrieved July 26, 2007 from http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/1/story.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=3548790.
“Government Sorry” (2002, February 12). Government to sorry for tax on Chinese. The New Zealand Herald. Retrieved July 26, 2007 from http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/1/story.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=889867.
(2007, April 30). Working the truth beat (Op-ed). The New York Times, p. A21.
, & (1990). Intergroup comparisons and social identity: Some links and lacunae. In & (Eds.), Social identity theory: Constructive and critical advances (pp. 48–70). New York: Harvester Weatsheaf.Google Scholar
(1994). Frames of remembrance: The dynamics of collective memory. New Brunswick, NJ: Transaction Publishers.Google Scholar
, & (1994). The role of stereotyping in system-justification and the production of false consciousness. British Journal of Social Psychology, 33, 1–27.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
, , & (2004). A decade of system justification theory: Accumulated evidence of conscious and unconscious bolstering of the status quo. Political Psychology, 25, 881–920.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
(2007, February). Separate and unequal: Money for crimes committed at residential schools may be forthcoming, but problems with the reserve system remain. The Walrus. Retrieved July 25, 2007 from http://www.walrusmagazine.com/articles/2007.02-national-affairs-separate-and-unequal/.
(1980). The belief in a just world: A fundamental delusion. New York: Plenum Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
(1995). Lies my teacher told me: Everything your American history textbook got wrong. New York: W. W. Norton and Company.Google Scholar
, & (2003). How are stereotypes maintained through communication? The influence of stereotype sharedness. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 85, 989–1005.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
(2006, September 9). The cruelty of denial. The Age. Retrieved July 26, 2007 from http://www.theage.com.au/news/robert-manne/the-cruelty-of-denial/2006/09/08/1157222325367.html.
(1929/1964). The nature of the past. Reprinted in Selected Writings: . (Ed.). Indianapolis: Bobbs-Merrill.Google Scholar
(1998). Between vengeance and forgiveness: Facing history after genocide and mass violence. Boston: Beacon Press.Google Scholar
(2007, April 1). Japan's textbooks reflect revised history. The New York Times Online. Retrieved July 25, 2007 from http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/01/world/asia/01japan.html?ex=1333080000&en=5fa52832e2bd5db5&ei=5124&partner=digg&exprod=dig.
“Return to Vimy Ridge” (2007). About Vimy Ridge (n.d.) Retrieved July 26, 2007 from: http://www.returntovimyridge.ca/aboutvimy.htm.
(2003). Cowlitz Indian ethnic identity, social memories and 150 years of conflict with the United States government. In & (Eds.), The role of memory in ethnic conflict (pp. 55–74). New York: Palgrave Macmillan.Google Scholar
, , , & (2006). How siblings resolve their conflicts: The importance of first offers, planning, and limited opposition. Child Development, 77, 1730–1745.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
(1989). The relation of implicit theories to the construction of personal histories. Psychological Review, 96, 341–357.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
, & (2007). How and why governments apologize. Talk presented at the 11th Ontario Symposium: The psychology of justice and legitimacy, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, Ontario, Canada.
, & (2007). Group identification and historical memory. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 33, 384–395.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
, & (1986). The social identity theory of inter-group behavior. In and (Eds.), Psychology of intergroup relations (pp. 2–24). Chicago: Nelson-Hall.Google Scholar
(2002). Taking responsibility for the past: Reparation and historical justice. Cambridge, UK: Polity Press.Google Scholar
(2007, April 7). Vimy Ridge: The making of a myth. The Globe and Mail. Retrieved July 30, 2007 from: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20070406.cover07/BNStory/VimyRidge/home.
(2002, March 27). Suit seeks billions in reparations. Cable News Network (CNN). Retrieved August 24, 2006 from http://archives.cnn.com/2002/LAW/03/26/slavery.reparations.
(2007, February 24). Virginia expresses ‘profound regret’ for role in slave-trade. CBC news online. Retrieved April 14, 2007 from http://www.cbc.ca/world/story/2007/02/24/virginia-slavery.html.
- 7
- Cited by