We analyze the memory of collective events in Peru and its relationship with Peruviannational identity in a middle-class sample from Lima (N = 81). Peruvian collective self- esteem and two dimensions of the Peruvian self-concept (Peruvians as proactive-capable and negative image of Peruvians) are related moderately to valence of historic characters remembered. Nevertheless, valence of remembered historical events was not associated to Peruvian national identity. Results also suggest that characters and events from 20th century comprise the majority of remembered instances, and 20th century instances are worse evaluated than characters and events from previous periods of Peruvian history. Results confirm a recency bias and a tendency to make more positive meaning attributions to distant eventsand characters than those made to more recent events. / Se analizan las relaciones entre la memoria de hechos colectivos en el Perú y la constitución de la identidad nacional peruana en 81 habitantes de clase media de Lima Metropolitana. La valencia positiva del recuerdo colectivo de personajes históricos, más no el de eventos, se asocia moderadamente a la autoestima colectiva y a dos dimensiones del autoconcepto colectivo (peruanos proactivos-capaces e imagen negativa de los peruanos). Se encontró que personajes y eventos del siglo XX conforman el porcentaje mayoritario de recuerdos colectivos, y en promedio personajes y eventos del siglo XX son peor evaluados que personajes y eventos previos a este siglo. Esto confirma la presencia de un sesgo de recencia y la tendencia a atribuir un significado más positivo a personajes y hechos que se recuerdan a largo plazo en contraposición con aquellos más recientes.

Submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements of the degree of Master of Technology: Fine Art, Durban University of Technology, Durban, South Africa, 2015. / The purpose of this research was to investigate the interrogation of Afrikaner culture and identity in the work of Andries Botha (1952) and Marlene de Beer (1957) in the context of Afrikaner nationalism. Anthony Smith’s theory of ethno symbolism (2010) and writings on nationalism by Montserrat Gibernau (1996, 2004a, 2000b) are used as a theoretical framework for an analysis of Afrikaner culture and identity, in the form of Afrikaner nationalism. A qualitative research methodology was used, within an art historical, theoretical and practice led investigation into the interrogation of Afrikaner culture and identity. A reflective approach clarified and made meaningful concepts which relate to both my theoretical and practical work, which are interlinked. De Beer makes use of cultural symbols, in interrogating the position of the female in Afrikaner identity and culture, in the context of South African history. Botha interrogates masculinity and patriarchy in Afrikaner culture and identity through a reference to his father and events and imagery from South African history. A personal exploration of Afrikaner culture and identity, in the context of my family history and life experiences, reveals a persistent questioning of Afrikaner culture and identity, resulting in the formation of an individual identity. Arising from this research, it is evident that there is a need for further research into the possible formation of a multicultural identity post 1994 in South Africa. / M

This thesis aims to shed light on the collection of Oriental manuscripts at the Uppsala University Library Carolina Rediviva and how the collection is a part of the collective memory. The main question which is central for this thesis is: have orientalism and structures of power influenced the acquisition, arrangement and methods of accessability regarding the Oriental manuscripts? If yes, in what way and why? If no, how has this been avoided? The theoretical framework consists of four approaches: phenomenology, sociology of knowledge, orientalism and power which are applied to the archival concept of collective memory. The main source of material consists of three parts: the historical texts which gives an informational framework regarding the time and place in which the manuscripts were collected, the catalogues in which the manuscripts are described and the transcripted interviews alongside correspondence. Methodologically the thesis is based upon a qualitative method which also partly makes up the foundation for the main material. The methods used are interviews and text studies of manuscript catalogues, historical texts and exhibition catalogues. The usage of manuscript catalogues was, due to the limited time, restricted to one which is written in English, as for the informants they are limited to three. The result of this study shows that the historical foundation on which the Oriental manuscript collection came into existance rests on a basis consisting of orientalism and power structures. This foundation is somewhat reproduced in time and in some ways current regarding the arrangement and methods of accessability both in historical and contemporary approaches.

Through interrelating the Acoustic Communication concepts of soundscape with contemporary collective memory studies, this research project explores the relationship between commuters and the London Underground (LU) soundscape in order to create an interactive sonic environment on the Internet. The methodology combines fieldwork and artistic work, focusing on commuters’ perceptions of time and space, and on their sonic memories, as elements through which to interpret the space. The objective of the fieldwork is to investigate commuters’ aural memories of the LU soundscape, including the feelings and sensations that it stimulates. The artistic objective is to facilitate the interaction between the soundscape and its users through an interface that allows a creative combination of sounds to assemble aural memories into a sound-driven multimedia experience. Twenty-four commuters participated in the ethnographic study during the three phases of the research; they followed the researcher’s model, which combines the processes of listening and remembering. The researcher thus developed an interactive sonic environment where commuters can experience a non-linear virtual journey through the soundscape of LU, then apply this as a means of reflecting on the original commuting experience. The interactive nature of the process makes it possible for individual memories to be linked in a creative shared experience; it fosters the development of on-line sound-driven narratives.

Collective memory is a socially shared representation of the past. History, contrastingly, strives to be an unbiased, objective, and critical account of the past. Many researchers have argued that the so-called “history” found in school textbooks and curriculums align more with collective memory; however, many individuals do not know of the pervasiveness of collective memory in supposed “history” texts. To examine perceptions of accuracy and preference of American “history” textbook passages, individuals from Amazon’s Mechanical Turk (n= 404) participated in an online study where they were randomly assigned to read one passage that was either negatively biased, neutral, or positively biased regarding the U.S. dropping the atomic bombs over Hiroshima and Nagasaki during World War II. Participants rated their emotional valence of the event and their perceptions of accuracy and preference for the passage. The results suggest that individuals perceive negatively biased passages as less accurate and less preferable, even if their emotional valence matches the bias within the text. Individuals also showed the hypothesized interaction for preference; those who perceived the event as not negative preferred the positive text to the neutral and negative texts. The findings support evidence that individuals are motivated to prefer history passages consistent with their attitudes and rate higher accuracy among positive and neutral texts. The results have broader implications on reporting or dismissing human rights violations within collective memory.

A number of presidents have aided the auto industry, protected it from external threats, or saved it from collapse, while presidential rhetoric about the industry is positive and consistent across political parties and over time. I conduct rhetorical analyses of the entire history of presidential speech about the industry to explain the evolution of the relationship between these two institutions. I argue that this relationship is an example of the institutionalization of speech; perfunctory campaign praise became habitual and eventually coalesced into a rhetorical legacy that entailed rhetorical and material resources and constraints for the institution of the presidency. In the case of the auto industry, presidents sought political support from the auto industry as a constituency, erased blameworthy aspects of industry history, and created an industry identity that was exceptional, which served as justification for defense of the industry and intervention during periods of economic recession, regulatory stress, foreign competition, and imminent collapse of an automaker. Such cases of institutionalized speech between the presidency and other institutions are special, but not unique; this case provides an instructive example of how speech becomes legacy over time, and of what the consequences of such legacies might include for this case and for possible others.

This study explores the usage of the memory of the bombings of Belgrade from WWII in the time period of Yugoslavia from 1995 until 2003. Considering that Belgrade was bombed by two opposing forces during WWII, once by Nazis in 1941, and the second time by the Allies in 1944, and due to the fact that the exploitation of memory of the two bombings was rather unequal during the Socialist Yugoslavia with the latter bombings being a taboo theme, I was interested in answering following questions: how the two memories were used in the times before, during and after the NATO Air Strikes of Yugoslavia, if the memory of the Allied bombings emerged in the public sphere and how it coexists with the one of the Nazi bombings. My primary sources are articles from "Politika" newspaper issues from commemoration dates during the research time frame from 1995 until 2003. The final conclusion shows the dominant usage of the memory of the Nazi bombings throughout the whole time frame even though we could witness the emergence of the memory of the Allied bombings.

This dissertation addresses the issues of collective memory in relationship with mass media. The key concepts from both fields are included. The emphasis is put on distinction between collective memory concept and other key concepts like history or historical consciousness. Subsequently the theories presenting correlation between the media and the collective memory are introduced; a lesser empirical part is also included. The main goal of this dissertation is to connect two seemingly separated issues into one compact concept, to demonstrate possible way how media forms collective memory and to support these conclusions by results from the empirical research. Keywords Collective memory, historical consciousness, media impact

In the theoretical part of this thesis are discussed concepts of collective memory created by Maurice Halbwachs, Pierre Nora and Jan Assmann, the author considers them inspiring for the research about forming of collective identity. Case study is given to the South Bohemian town of Pisek and the changing of its identity in the second half of the 19th century. It gives an overview of available sources and detailed biographies of people, who were most important for the forming of local identity. By using the analysis of dictionary entries are recognized basic attributes of local identity and their various forms, focusing particularly on process of modernization. KEYWORDS City of Písek, local identity, collective memory, process of modernization.

The topic of this thesis is Film as a Reflection of the Social Situation (in the Perspective of Sociological Analysis). Its aim is to look at the issue of the film from a sociological point of view. This work consists of a theoretical and practical part. The theoretical part describes basic approaches to the film as they appeared during the 20th century in selected disciplines and sociology. Thus, the theory contains rather a basic overview of the possible starting-points for working with film. The next part of this work is a practical research project, which is dealing with a specific area of the Czech historical film in the late sixties of the 20th century. The aim of the second part is to link theoretical principles with their practical use in the sociological analysis of the film, which is set within the contemporary culture and the social context of the Czechoslovakia in the sixties of the 20th century. The practical part, in which four Czech historical films were analyzed, confirms the essential idea of this thesis - the film is the reflection of the social reality. Key words: media, film, sociological analysis, visual sociology, collective memory