Draft:Mnemohistory
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Mnemohistory is a concept credited to historian Jan Assmann. As defined by Assmann, mnemohistory conceives of the past from a perspective distinct from that of conventional historiography.[1]
Modern historical practice aims to reconstruct the past "as it really happened" by focusing on objective factuality. In contrast, mnemohistory is concerned with the past "as it is remembered" and with the cultural significance attributed to that remembered past by later peoples.[1][2]
The concept has expanded beyond its Egyptological origins to encompass diverse investigations into how societies remember, reinterpret, and publicly express their pasts; examples include ancient political transitions,[3] displays of postcolonial memory,[4] and the role of emerging technologies like AI in shaping historical narratives.[1][5][6]
Development of the concept
[edit]German Egyptologist and religious scholar Jan Assmann coined the neologism in his 1998 book Moses the Egyptian: The Memory of Egypt in Western Monotheism. Assmann examined how ancient Egypt has been remembered in European thought. His work focused on the uneven transmission of memories and ideas, particularly those that have been suppressed or nearly forgotten. He explores why certain narratives endured and how culturally-repressed memories can resurface in unexpected ways.[2][7]
Assmann dubbed his project "mnemohistory", using the Greek prefix mnemo- ("memory") to designate the focus of his investigation. Assmann explained: "Unlike history proper, mnemohistory is not concerned with the past as such, but only with the past as it is remembered".[2][7][8]
Scholars who identify with Assmann's approach have begun to use the terms "mnemohistorian" and "mnemohistorical" to describe themselves and their work.[5][7][9]
See also
[edit]- Aby Warburg
- Collective memory
- Cultural history
- Cultural memory
- Folk memory
- Hauntology
- National memory
References
[edit]Bibliography
[edit]Assmann, Jan (1998). Moses the Egyptian: The Memory of Egypt in Western Monotheism. Cambridge: Harvard University Press. ISBN 9780674587397.
Cardina, M.; Nascimento, A.; Rodrigues, P. (2022). Remembering the Liberation Struggles in Cape Verde: A Mnemohistory. London: Routledge. doi:10.4324/9781003265535. ISBN 9781032208459. Retrieved 19 June 2025.
Ebeling, Florian (2018). "Jan Assmann's transformation of reception studies to cultural history" (PDF). Aegyptiaca. Journal of the History of Reception of Ancient Egypt (3): 5–8. Retrieved 11 June 2025.
Kenney, John Peter (June 1999). "Jan Assmann. Moses the Egyptian: The Memory of Egypt in Western Monotheism". The American Historical Review. 104 (3): 1039–1040. Retrieved 20 June 2025.
Gowing, Alain M. (2005). Empire and Memory. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9780511610592.
Peng, S-H. L. (22 May 2024). "D(igital)éjà vu: AI, mnemohistory, and the future of memory". Information Matters. 4 (5). Retrieved 20 June 2025.
Tamm, Marek, ed. (2015). Afterlife of Events: Perspectives on Mnemohistory. Basingstoke, Hampshire; New York, NY: Palgrave Macmillan. ISBN 9781137470171. Retrieved 13 June 2025.
Tamm, Marek (2024). "Mnemohistory". In Bietti, L. M.; Pogacar, M. (eds.). The Palgrave Encyclopedia of Memory Studies. Springer Nature Switzerland AG. doi:10.1007/978-3-030-93789-8_37-1. Retrieved 19 June 2025.
- ^ a b c Ebeling 2018.
- ^ a b c Assmann 1998, p. 9.
- ^ Gowing 2005.
- ^ Cardina, Nascimento & Rodrigues 2022.
- ^ a b Peng 2024.
- ^ Tamm 2024, p. 4.
- ^ a b c Kenney 1999, p. 1039.
- ^ Tamm 2015, p. 3.
- ^ Tamm 2024, p. 1.