Collective Memory:
Collective and individual memory is commonly discussed when pertaining to memorials. A memorial’s effectiveness can be directly related to how well it conveys the collective memory of a society at a given time but also how well it can reach individuals and become a part of personal memories and relate to past individual experience. While it may seem as though it is impossible for a collective memory to exist since a memory of an event can be recalled differently due to individual differences and forgetting, individual memory is partially based and what society memorializes as well as the life experiences of the individual.

To give the collective memory a definition, it is “the reusable and available texts, images, and rites of each society, with the preservation of which it stabilizes and spreads its self-image; a collective shared knowledge, preferably (but not necessarily) of the past, on which a group’s sense of unity and individuality is based.” The collective memory can be on many scales, from a national level (American citizens) to a particular religious, ethnic or cultural group (German Jews), and the collective memory can change due to varying perspectives but can have the same roots as another group’s collective memory.