Description: This book draws on psychology, history, literary theory, semiotics, sociology, and political science to provide a comprehensive review of collective memory. It outlines a particular way that narratives produced by the modern state are consumed by individuals. These issues are examined with the help of examples from the transformation Russia has undergone as it entered its post-Soviet era. This is a case study of how a modern state can lose control of collective memory and how memory can be regenerated in unique ways.
Review Quotes: "James Wertsch makes an important contribution to the current discussion of collective memory...The book should be of major interest, not only to scholars in these disciplines, which include sociology, anthropology, rhetoric, philosophy, and history, but also to educators whose work focuses on educational history and international education." Nancy Nelson, Louisiana State University, Slavic Review