Study On Collective Memory Of Sent-down-youth Group

Collective Memory is a new research subject in Social Science area of 20th Century. The spring up of the collective memory subject was not the out of thin air. 1925, French sociologist put forward the collective memory concept definitely, and cut a new studying area. Two reasons interpreted the hot interesting to collective memory topic. Form the science development view, the history of group-researching is long. Collective consciousness, collective representation, collective mind, collective memory and so on are always the interesting and important subject. From the emotional view, human being is the social-being, question, prospect and reflect closely to continuation and development of Group is the responsibility. Collective memory study is an important subject caring about the past, nowadays and future of group.Sent-down-youth group is a typical group in contemporary China history; it has special station and important research value. Form the scientific viewpoint the study to collective memory of sent-down youth group was not much more. A few study about it showed several shortages and deficiencies:subject decentralization, content incomprehensive, and analysis simple. Therefore, the collective memory study of sent-down-youth group containing the construction, maintenance and identification become necessary. Employing the depth interview, literature material review and content analysis methods, based the great deal material, we concluded and analyzed comprehensively, and then we found some valuable conclusions about collective memory of sent-down-youth group.The study on collective memory construction and maintenance of sent-down-youth, we found:(1) collective memory topic of sent-down-youth centralized three aspects mainly:tribulations, glories and reflections. "Tribulations" was an important topic of their collective memory, and also a basal narrative environment and meaning-formed precondition. Only in Tribulation-narrative environment, the glories and values of set-down-youth group could be cleared, and their youth and experiences could be worth to remember. (2) Collective memory of sent-down-youth group had inconsistency characteristics. No-complaint, because they are the same-generation, they have common fate; regret, because they have more or less pities in their life, lost too much individual developmental chances. Form the narrative logic upwards to construct and reflect history, the Collective memory construction of sent-down-youth group showed time-space background and social-constructing characteristics. (3) The construction-power of Collective memory of sent-down-youth came from two aspects: individual and group. "Can not be forgotten", the sent-down youth had the high consciousness and social responsibility to construct and maintain their collective memory. "Can not forget", the individual member had psychological need to continue and construct its whole life. (4) Collective memory based on individual memory and needed individual-member support and participant actively. During the collective memory construction procession, the group could neglect the minor details or disharmony voice of individual memory. At the same time, individual memory details could supply the collective memory content, and help the collective memory to achieve perfect construction. (5) Through the writing-texts, video materials, symbol buildings, commemorating activities, internet web and other related behaviors, the collective memory of sent-down-youth group could be maintained. But along with the time past, collective memory of sent-down-youth group would happen a certain degree changes, the memory about past would become more emotional and simple, and the group could construct new collective memory.Based on social identity theory and social representation theory, selected the collective memory as our visual angle, we studied the group identification of sent-down-youth, the conclusion as follows. (1) There were three style of memory narrative:the successful members affirmed the positive values of past experiences, the average members had a kind of mild attitude to face the past history, but the radicalness(concluding the miserable individuals and the hate-in-heart individuals), they selected the complaining, disagreed, hated and offish attitude to the history. Different memory narrative model unfolded the different cognition and estimate about past history, consequently influence the construction of their group identification. (2) In order to regulate the group boundary of sent-down youth, it was necessary meet two conditions:the common experience of up the mountains and down to the villages, this was an outer and objective standard; the character-coherence of group member, they must be loyalty, honesty, dedication; these characters were the inner and subject standards. (3) After they defined the group-boundary, the members acquired group-membership; the sent-down-youth community came into formed. The community and group-identity could be maintained through the activated of collective memory. (4) Owing to their special experiences, common fate, the in-group biases even more strong than out-group biases, the procession of social-comparison became simple. (5) "sent-down-youth" is the most important group representation, collective memory could expand the narrative space of individual and group, thereby, the collective memory formed the mainstream representation system, tribulation(tribulation), big emotion(dedication), big character(fortitude) and big spirit(loyalty).Meanwhile, we also found that the procession of collective memory construction and maintenance about sent-down-youth group would be influenced by political rights, memory mediums in social environment. At a certain extent, the factors restricted the fluency of collective memory construction and maintenance work. If continuing the study of collective memory to sent-down-youth group, it is necessary to enrich study-subject and research-method, to pay great important attentions to minor details, to perfect the theory-build. It is hope that the study-findings about collective memory of sent-down-youth group upwards could arouse the attentions and considerations of academe, drive the development of collective memory study of sent-down-youth group.