The Formation And Reconstruction Of Collective Memory In Moisés Kaufman's Two Laramie Plays

Moisés Kaufinan and his co-workers present two plays concerning a sensational anti-gay hate crime in a conservative American town called Laramie at the end of last century,aiming to explore how a community reacts to this watershed event in a short term,and how its attitude changes ten years later.This thesis examines the Laramie plays in the light of Maurice Halbwachs's theory of collective memory.With a detailed and systematic analysis of the text,it intends to find out how the community's collective memory of the event is formed through interaction between the residents' individual remembrances in a particular temporal and spatial setting,and how it is reconstructed in accordance with social change.The formation and reconstruction of the town's collective memory eventually help to define Laramie as a community.In the first play,homosexual people's living space is severely checked in this conservative western town.In this text,the collective memory of the community focuses on Laramie's local ethics which is challenged by the notorious crime.Laramie is portrayed as a biased locale that fiercely resists the homosexual lifestyle and breeds hatred towards sexual minorities.In the second play,the town is heading towards modernization,and the public begins to accept the LGBT group and to fight for their rights.As a result of all the changes in the past decade,Laramie's collective memory of the crime is reconstructed,centering around whether the past should be remembered or forgotten.Kaufman leaves the question open to the readers' interpretation,but either way,Laramie has turned into a more tolerant society that embraces the diversity.