A shared background: Collective memory

Collective memory is like a series of concentric circles surrounding our individual memories. Our individual memories are constantly being borne along by memories, clear or vague, mental ties, feelings, spontaneous reflexes, which make up what is generally called collective memory. “Our ancestors the Saxons ? What does that mean in the Falklands ?” To recall an event like the Blitz, for example, or a World Cup final or the millennium, our memory will be strongly marked by how we lived it, of course. But it will also be marked by how the event was perceived in our town, our country or in the world as broadcast on television. A collective memory is formed in this way, each person recording it individually a d sharing it with others in ever widening circles. Building collective memory “When will I see my home village again ?” Life’s events, as we live them, and as they are relayed to us by gossip, the media, gradually build up a memory that will eventually be shared by everyone. The collective memory is sometimes manufactured by communications experts. So we all have a real obligation to seek as objective a truth as possible. But is there an objective truth, in fact ? Our ancestors the Saxons. What does that mean in Mauritius or the Falklands ? What is the truth about Joan of Arc ? Do we really know much about her leading the French against the English ? Yesterday’s heroes are nonetheless the basis for national pride. In the long struggle to establish the truth in the Dreyfus affair, Zola’s “J’accuse” article was needed to bring it to light. In our collective memory, an inglorious page was written for the makers of official truths , highlighting the need to fight to have the truth emerge. In more recent times, history is filled with shadowy areas. We are asked to subscribe to a collective memory that is being manufactured for us. For instance, the Chernobyl cloud stopped at the French border! What do we really know about the causes of the conflict in Kosovo, the disputed figures, about damage and the number of victims ? There are official facts and figures about a clean war, which were contradicted a few months later. So the makers of official versions were caught red-handed. At the same time a climate of mistrust of official statements is created, a mistrust of politicians. This is all part of collective memory. “No way!” L'histoire collective de la libération de Paris, de la découverte de l'existence des camps de la mort après la libération, de la lutte pour l'égalité des races en Afrique du Sud, de l'émotion lors du premier pas de l'homme sur la lune appartiennent à la mémoire collective de l'humanité. Les grands moments de lutte ouvrière : 36, Charonne, restent comme des souvenirs-terreau dans la mémoire de ceux qu'on a coutume d'appeler les travailleurs. Les chants : la Marseillaise au Stade de France pour la Coupe du Monde, les émotions des grands concerts, les manifestations collectives nationales ou mondiales laissent des souvenirs collectifs lourds et partagés par tous. Ils sont la mémoire collective en cours de constitution. Chacun de nous est ainsi baigné dans ces cercles concentriques d'histoire collective, sur lesquels s'appuie sa propre mémoire personnelle. Une mémoire collective mondiale est sans doute en train de se constituer sous nos yeux : les événements politiques, sportifs, littéraires, artistiques sont de plus en plus maintenant de portée mondiale. Ainsi s'éloigne-t-on du soupir ancien qui reste pourtant encore au cour de beaucoup : “Ah, when will I see the smoke from the chimney of my little village again, And in what season will I see my poor dwelling, which to me is a province, and much more ?” (Joachim du Bellay 1522-1560) The return of the Storytellers ? Why mention the return of storytellers here ? “Is the time of storytelling back again ?” Because we all remember the stories our mother told us when we were small. The stories told, passed down from generation to generation, are part of a child’s imagination. They stay with us throughout out lives, leaving the trace of the emotions they created in our heart, together with a desire to transmit what was lodged with us. We all like to tell children stories. We know that storytellers are important members of society in Africa. But the time of storytellers is returning in our countries. In increasing numbers, adults are taking part in training sessions to learn storytelling and are going out into the suburbs and villages to perform before groups of people, the young and not-so-young, who are fond of this return to imagination and memory. Collective memory, charged with meaning, is thus being passed on.