Symbols, The Collective Memory And Group Identity

Sense of identity is a kind of subjective awareness of the members of a social group which distinguishes them from members of other social groups. It stands for group affiliation, recognition and attachment. With increasing social division of labor, sense of group identity, an important element that influences group cohesion and social unity, has engaged long-term attention from the academic community. Collective memory, the course and result of a social group's members'maintaining, developing and transmitting their common impression of and feeling towards the past, is closely related with the sense of identity of the members of a social group.Many studies take the relationship between collective memory and the sense of identity as a key element for exploration . Chinese scholars mainly focus on the nature, power structure, traditional rituals of rural communities, or analyze collective memory and its content through the examination of oral accounts of "historic events" by their witnesses . Such studies are usually carried out in the method of"dissection"as a result of common belief that collective memory tends to be easily manipulated by those in power and its study should be based mainly on subjective construction of people according to their interest and concern. The present thesis adopts the perspective of everyday life, follows the method of"saving", and concerns itself mainly with historical continuity of collective memory. It investigates the collective memory of residents of Jinan city about the springs in the city and its social implications in combination with real events in their daily life. It is different from previous studies of collective memory in perspective and objects for research.With the fact that water stops coming out of the springs frequently as process and event and the accounts of the residents of Jinan about their memory of the springs, this thesis analyses the mechanism of continuity of the memory of springs in the city and its social implications, taking Durkheim's religious sociology ideas as the theoretical basis, and turns it into a path to the understanding and interpretation of the sense of group identity of the residents. The residents of Jinan are deeply attached to the springs in the city and their memories of them are marked by the following three features: First, Jinan springs are the carriers of local folk customs, culture and forms an important part of the memory of the past of the residents which is a special way of transmission of the traditional culture. Second, The affection of the residents for the spring , and the meaning of the spring to the whole city are manifested and refined in the"collective effervescence"resulting from the regush of Bao Tu Spring and the consequent ceremonies in the following three aspects.Firstly, Bao Tu Spring is the embodiment of special collective feeling and meaning the residents have had in the past and at present. Its regush awakens the past impression of the spring, provides the social framework of collective memory: social groups and their members delimited in time and space,"environment"for the memory recreating the past. In the effervescence that collects the feeling of the residents, their collective identity is reaffirmed ,their groups are redefined and strengthened.Secondly, the residents personify the regushing spring and enchant it , thus expressing strong affection for it. Such feeling transmits and carry the power of influence and echo in"collective effervescence". When collective feeling and consciousness are rekindled, relationship of intimacy is felt towards one another among the residents who identify themselves as the members of the same community, thus strengthening the social nature of an individual. This state of collective psychology is the way of resident'identifying themselves with the social group, a source of group cohesion and a solid social psychological basis of group identity.Thirdly, the Bao Tu Spring is a manifestation and symbol of the spirit of the city. Its significance to the city and the entire community is sublimated in the regush of Bao Tu Spring that re-awakens and pools the spirit of the city, thus making the memory a continuous process that transcends the constraints of time and space. In this way, the collective affection and spirit of the city contained in the memory of springs pool gains the sense of historical continuity, exercising a sustained impact on the integration of the spirit of the city.Groups identity and the self-satisfaction is the symbolic meaning that lies behind the regush of the spring and the consequent "collective effervescence" activities. It is precisely because of such profound significance that the"collective effervescence" and the ceremonies make it possible for the collective memory of spring of people to pass from generation to generation and maintain historical continuity The cohesion and sublimation resulting from the collective feeling and awareness deriving from the above-mentioned process, the continuity of the memory of spring and the positive influence it has on the integration of the spirit of the city forms a logical internal relationship among the regushing of the spring, the memory of the spring and the sense of group identity of the residents of Jinan city explored in the present thesis.