collective memory

Collective memory is the shared pool of knowledge and information in the memories of two or more members of a social group. The English phrase “collective memory” and the equivalent French phrase “la mémoire collective” appeared in the second-half of the nineteenth century. The philosopher and sociologist Maurice Halbwachs analyzed and advanced the concept of the collective memory in the book La mémoire collective (1950). Collective memory can be shared, passed on, and constructed, by large and small social groups. Examples of these groups could include a government or popular culture, among others. Collective memory parallels the memory of a person who is better at recalling images than words; but also exhibits key differences and features, such as cross-cueing.