Artículos de revistas
The Construction of the Relation Between National Past and present in the Appropriation of Historical Master Narratives
Fecha
2015-09Registro en:
Van Alphen, Floortje; Carretero, Mario; The Construction of the Relation Between National Past and present in the Appropriation of Historical Master Narratives; Springer; Integrative Psychological and Behavioral Science; 49; 3; 9-2015; 512-530
1932-4502
CONICET Digital
CONICET
Autor
Van Alphen, Floortje
Carretero, Mario
Resumen
Master narratives about national history have been recognized as powerful cultural tools, influencing both historical understanding and national identity construction. For example, by the work of James Wertsch and studies on national history representation from a sociocultural point of view. However, the appropriation of these narratives needs to be considered in more detail for a clearer picture of how the nation is imagined and how this representation could change. In this paper a contribution is made by analyzing how the relation between past and present is constructed in master narrative representation, based on interviews with high school students narrating national history and presidential discourse commemorating it. It is proposed that the relation between past and present is constructed in three ways: past and present are identified; the past is idealized and their relation is teleologically constructed. By looking at how past and present are related in representations of the national past, the functioning of national historical myths as cultural tool becomes more clear. This contributes to clarifying how the master narrative constrains historical understanding and how it might enable national identification processes.