Generations and Collective Memory

Nonfiction, History, Reference, Historiography, Social & Cultural Studies, Social Science, Sociology
Cover of the book Generations and Collective Memory by Amy Corning, Howard Schuman, University of Chicago Press
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: Amy Corning, Howard Schuman ISBN: 9780226282831
Publisher: University of Chicago Press Publication: August 31, 2015
Imprint: University of Chicago Press Language: English
Author: Amy Corning, Howard Schuman
ISBN: 9780226282831
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
Publication: August 31, 2015
Imprint: University of Chicago Press
Language: English

When discussing large social trends or experiences, we tend to group people into generations. But what does it mean to be part of a generation, and what gives that group meaning and coherence? It's collective memory, say Amy Corning and Howard Schuman, and in Generations and Collective Memory, they draw on an impressive range of research to show how generations share memories of formative experiences, and how understanding the way those memories form and change can help us understand society and history.

Their key finding—built on historical research and interviews in the United States and seven other countries (including China, Japan, Germany, Lithuania, Russia, Israel, and Ukraine)—is that our most powerful generational memories are of shared experiences in adolescence and early adulthood, like the 1963 Kennedy assassination for those born in the 1950s or the fall of the Berlin Wall for young people in 1989. But there are exceptions to that rule, and they're significant: Corning and Schuman find that epochal events in a country, like revolutions, override the expected effects of age, affecting citizens of all ages with a similar power and lasting intensity.

The picture Corning and Schuman paint of collective memory and its formation is fascinating on its face, but it also offers intriguing new ways to think about the rise and fall of historical reputations and attitudes toward political issues.

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

When discussing large social trends or experiences, we tend to group people into generations. But what does it mean to be part of a generation, and what gives that group meaning and coherence? It's collective memory, say Amy Corning and Howard Schuman, and in Generations and Collective Memory, they draw on an impressive range of research to show how generations share memories of formative experiences, and how understanding the way those memories form and change can help us understand society and history.

Their key finding—built on historical research and interviews in the United States and seven other countries (including China, Japan, Germany, Lithuania, Russia, Israel, and Ukraine)—is that our most powerful generational memories are of shared experiences in adolescence and early adulthood, like the 1963 Kennedy assassination for those born in the 1950s or the fall of the Berlin Wall for young people in 1989. But there are exceptions to that rule, and they're significant: Corning and Schuman find that epochal events in a country, like revolutions, override the expected effects of age, affecting citizens of all ages with a similar power and lasting intensity.

The picture Corning and Schuman paint of collective memory and its formation is fascinating on its face, but it also offers intriguing new ways to think about the rise and fall of historical reputations and attitudes toward political issues.

More books from University of Chicago Press

Cover of the book The Economic Approach to Human Behavior by Amy Corning, Howard Schuman
Cover of the book Not in Our Lifetimes by Amy Corning, Howard Schuman
Cover of the book Not without Madness by Amy Corning, Howard Schuman
Cover of the book Capitalism Takes Command by Amy Corning, Howard Schuman
Cover of the book Hitler's Geographies by Amy Corning, Howard Schuman
Cover of the book Slaves Waiting for Sale by Amy Corning, Howard Schuman
Cover of the book Difficult Reputations by Amy Corning, Howard Schuman
Cover of the book The Willow Pattern by Amy Corning, Howard Schuman
Cover of the book What Kinship Is-And Is Not by Amy Corning, Howard Schuman
Cover of the book Portrait of a Man Known as Il Condottiere by Amy Corning, Howard Schuman
Cover of the book Nietzsche's Journey to Sorrento by Amy Corning, Howard Schuman
Cover of the book Saving Babies? by Amy Corning, Howard Schuman
Cover of the book Tax Policy and the Economy, Volume 29 by Amy Corning, Howard Schuman
Cover of the book Evidence by Amy Corning, Howard Schuman
Cover of the book The Mediterranean Incarnate by Amy Corning, Howard Schuman
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy