History, Collective Memories, or National Memories?

This chapter analyzes differences between memory and history stemming from a theoretical distinction between romantic and idealized goals and enlightened and critical understanding goals of history education. National narratives and national identity are two key elements in the construction of both collective memories and history education. This chapter analyzes and provides examples of theoretical and empirical work involving six different dimensions of school history narratives: a homogeneous historical subject, identification processes, heroic and idealized key historical figures, a monocausal and teleological account of historical events, moral value judgments, and an essentialist conceptualization of nation and national identity. Finally, a concise analysis of school historical re-enactments as a cultural scenario, which greatly contributes to the interiorization of the previously mentioned narratives, is presented.