Explanační principy ve studiu kolektivní paměti: Kultura, kognice a jejich situovanost

Abstract

Research addressing collective memory in the Czech context is predominantly based on the constructivist approach laid out by Maurice Halbwachs. This approach can be characterized by an assumption of omnipresent existence of stable structures of meaning with which action is explained. In the existing literature, we can also find alternative approaches based on findings of the cognitive sciences. These approaches can be characterized by searching for neurophysiological invariants which determine the diffusion of cultural representations. With respect to this state of the research field, the aim of this text is twofold. First, to demonstrate that the assumptions highlighting supra-individual semantic structures introduced by the Halbwachsian tradition lead to premature closure of explanation, without taking into account the question of diffusion of semantic structures. Second, to show that the focus on cognitive phenomena (taking into account the question of diffusion of semantic structures) does not have to lead to acceptance of reductionist premises. As a result, this study attempts to suggest an approach which would be able to study collective memory without reliance on supra-individual entities on the one hand and on reductionist assumptions on the other. It seems that the approach of Situational Analysis fits those criteria well and therefore it is introduced in the concluding parts of the text.