“ Memory studies are a fruitful site to think
citizenship beyond the bounds of nation-states ”
Marianne Hirsch is William Peterfield Trent Professor of English and
Comparative Literature at Columbia University and Professor in the
Institute for Research on Women , Gender , and Sexuality . She is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and a former President of the Modern Language Association of America . Born in Romania and educated at Brown University , where she received her BA / MA and Ph . D . degrees .
Hirsch ’ s work combines feminist theory with memory studies , particularly the transmission of memories of violence across generations . Along this interview we talked about her academic trajectory and the concepts she coined , and also about interdisciplinarity , the relationship between memory and new technologies , and the transmission of trauma across generations , its role in the social movements ( feminism , Black Lives Matter ...) and its possible uses to strengthen democracy .
1 . One of the main themes of the current issue of Observing Memories is the relationship between the new technologies and social networks in the transmission of memory . While it ’ s been said that Twitter may one day become an indispensable source of analysis in the study of political thought , what new contributions can it and other social networks make to our study of the transmission of memory ? Can social networks help us to counter hegemonic narratives of the past or is there a danger of them actually bolstering these narratives ?
This is a great question . Social networks are just that – networks – webs of transmission that intersect and overlap . Memory also circulates through webs and networks , as different groups define themselves and their identities according to certain understandings of the past , understandings that can conflict with those of other groups . When versions of the recollected past are built and circulate through social media , they are supported by the likes and dislikes , the agreements and disagreements that these platforms enable . I believe that this process is ideologically neutral : it can be used by different groups for their own benefit . And , as we now know too well , a lot of falsehood can circulate in social media , affecting the present that is built upon these versions of the past .
But social networks do more and do good as well : they generate informal archives that contribute to the formation of memory and the writing of history . As people scan , upload and exchange images and documents held in private and family collections , as they contribute individual and communal stories and anecdotes , they supplement official archives and preserve small stories that might otherwise be left out of the historical record . I ’ ve had some wonderful help finding images and documents from people interested in some of the obscure towns , ghettos and camps I was researching . Such crowdsourced archives have become invaluable in enlarging , deepening and materializing official histories .
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