Collective Memory
In this axis, we examine the interplay between individual, family and collective memory.
Collective memories are memories shared by a group that influence their social identity. As Belgians, we share memories of the second world war, the 2016 Brussels terrorist attack or our time in the Congo. We also hold memories from our family past, from our friends or from smaller communities we identify with. But how do we deal with these memories when they diverge, when they make us feel negative emotions such as shame and guilt, when then go against our sense of self, or – conversely – make us feel more connected to the group? In other words, we investigate how emotions, social identification, relationships and memory affect one another.
Our research has focus on three topics: flashbulb memories, intergenerational transmission, and intersection between communicative and cultural memory.
Do you remember when you were on the 22nd of March 2016, when you hear that there had been bombings at the airport and in the metro of Brussels? What time was it? Who was with you? What was your reaction? If you feel like you have a vivid representation of that time, then you have formed a flashbulb memory. In our research, we evaluate how emotions and cognitions can shape memories of important and consequential social events and their reception context.
Our more recent projects have focused on the intergenerational transmission of memory. Through narratives of their own lives, parents and grandparents convey to their (grand)children moral and social values essential for the formation and maintenance of a cohesive family identity. In turn, younger generations use these family narratives to construct their sense of self, further their understanding of social relationships and help them make sense of the world or make decisions for the future. In this context, our research endeavours to answer some essential questions. Over how many generations are family stories transmitted? Are historical memories associated with pride more often discussed than historical memories associates with shame? How are family narratives reconstructed by the different generations? What functions do they serve?
Finally, we also examine the intersection between cultural memories (e.g., what we learn at school or in the museums about our history) and communicative memories (e.g., how these topics are discussed within the family or with friends). We have studied three emblematic cases: the resistance during the Second World War, the collaboration and repression of WWII and the colonisation of the Congo. Within these cases, we investigate how emotions of pride and shame influences the transmission and the sharing of these memories, how societal stigma can play a role in the content being discussed and how younger generations reconcile their family past with their cultural knowledge of the topic.
Our "RE-Member" project won a price! - Notre projet "RE-Member" a gagné un prix !
🏆 Inter Circle U. Prize (ICUP) 🎉
Watch a short video about the project here.
Find out more about this inter-disciplinary project here.
Si vous souhaitez participer, c'est par-ici. 👈 - Als je mee wilt doen, klik dan hier. 👈
Recent publications & In press & Preprints
2022
Cordonnier, A., Rosoux, V., Gijs, A. S., & Luminet, O. (2022). Collective memory: An hourglass between the collective and the individual. Memory, Mind & Media, 1, e8. https://doi.org/10.1017/mem.2022.1
Ghilani, D., Luminet, O., & Klein, O. (2022). When History seems to repeat itself: Exposure to perceived lessons of the past influences predictions about current political events. Psychologica Belgica, 62, 89–107. DOI: 10.5334/pb.1075
van der Haegen, A., Stone, C. B., Luminet, O., & Hirst, W. (2022). Conversational roles, generational differences and the emergence of historical and personal memories surrounding WWII during familial discussions. Discourse Processes, 59(7), 500-519. https://doi.org/10.1080/0163853X.2022.2037053
van der Haegen, A., Stone, C. B., Luminet, O., & Hirst, W. (2022). Conversational roles, generational differences and the emergence of historical and personal memories surrounding WWII during familial discussions. Discourse Processes DOI: 10.1080/0163853X.2022.2037053
2021
Cordonnier, A., Bouchat, P., Hirst, W., & Luminet, O. (2021). Intergenerational transmission of World War II family historical memories of the resistance. Asian Journal of Social Psychology, 24, 302-314. Special issue on “Collective remembering of living historical memories”. DOI: 10.1111/ajsp.12436
Cordonnier, A., & Luminet, O. (2021a). Consistency and social identification: A test-retest study of flashbulb memories collected on the day of the 2016 Brussels bombings. Memory, 29, 305-318. DOI: 10.1080/09658211.2021.1891253
Cordonnier, A., & Luminet, O. (2021b). La mémoire collective, au-delà de l’individu. In O. Luminet, & D. Grynberg (Eds.). Psychologie des émotions. Concepts fondamentaux et implications cliniques (pp. 111-126). Bruxelles : De Boeck.
Luminet, O. (2021). Towards a better integration of emotional factors in autobiographical memory.Memory, 30, 49-54. Special issue on “The nature of human memory”. DOI: 10.1080/09658211.2021.1896738
2020
Bouchat, P., Luminet, O., Rosoux, V., Aerts, K., Cordonnier, A., Résibois, M., & Rimé, B. (2020). A social psychological perspective on WWII collaboration in the 21st century: A belgian case. European Journal of Social Psychology. DOI. 10.1002/ejsp.2664
Camia, C., Falys, C., Scheider, J., & Luminet, O. (2020). What is still known about 11 November 1918 in German-speaking Belgians? In S. Sumartojo, S. (Ed.), Commemorating the First World War: Experiencing 11 November 2018 (pp. 199-209). London: Bloomsbury.
Cordonnier, A., Bouchat, P., Hirst, W., & Luminet, O. (2020). Intergenerational transmission of World War II family historical memories of the resistance. Asian Journal of Social Psychology. Special issue on “Collective remembering of living historical memories”. DOI: 10.1111/ajsp.12436
Ghilani, D., Luminet, O., Ernst-Vintila, A., Van der Linden, N., Klein, P., & Klein, O. (2020). Long live the past: A multiple correspondence analysis of people’s justifications for drawing historical analogies between the Paris attacks and past events. Journal of Social and Political Psychology, 8, 721-747. DOI: 10.5964/jspp.v8i2.1212
Luminet, O., Rosoux, V., Brems, E., Bazan, A. & Beyen, M. (2020). Dialogues sur la Belgique: Souvenirs, images, questions. Presses Universitaires de Louvain (also published in Dutch : Dialogen over België. Herinneringen, beelden, opvattingen. Leuven : Universitaire Pers Leuven).
Luminet, O. (2020). Vienna, November 7-10, 2018. A four-day journey into public commemorations of November 1918 in the Austrian republic. In S. Sumartojo, S. (Ed.), Commemorating the First World War: Experiencing 11 November 2018 (pp. 45-56). London: Bloomsbury.
Stone, C. B., Luminet, O., Jay, A. C. V., Klein, O., Licata, L. & Hirst, W. (2020). Do public speeches induce “collective” forgetting? The Belgian King’s 2012 summer speech as a case study. Memory Studies. DOI: 10.1177/1750698019900949
2019
Spijkerman, R., Luminet, O., & Vrints, A. (2019). Fighting and writing. The psychological functions of diary writing in the First World War. In G. Warland (Ed.), Experience and Memory of the First World War in Belgium. Comparative and Interdisciplinary Insights (pp. 23-43). Waxmann-Verlag, Münster/New York, Historische Belgienforschung.
Warland, G., & Luminet, O. (2019). Nil inultum remanebit: Germany in the war diaries of the historians Paul Fredericq and Henri Pirenne. In G. Warland (Ed.), Experience and Memory of the First World War in Belgium. Comparative and Interdisciplinary Insights (pp. 45-78). Waxmann-Verlag, Münster/New York, Historische Belgienforschung.
2018
Luminet, O. (2018). Emotions, ressassement, attitudes et identités : Le cocktail explosif des mémoires collectives divergentes. In De la mémoire ou de l’oubli. L’amnistie en question(s) (pp. 108-125). Actes du colloque international, Académie royale des Sciences, des Lettres et des Beaux-Arts de Belgique, Bruxelles.
Luminet, O., & Curci, A. (2018). Flashbulb memories: New challenges and future perspectives. London, UK and New York: Routledge.
Our project in the press
Recipes for success: The 2023 ICUP winners on doing inter- and transdisciplinary research
Circle-U - 01/06/2023
Le pouvoir du symbolique Le Vif - 20/09/2022
Moustique.be 06/07/2021: Les Diables ne sauveront pas le pays
La mémoire des attentats de Bruxelles: Olivier Luminet, Aline Cordonnier: Le Soir 22/03/2021
Knack.be 09/01/2021: Dialogen over België: Herman Van Rompuy en Philippe Moureaux over de belangrijkste gebeurtenissen in onze geschiedenis
Levif.be 09/01/2021: Document: le passionnant dialogue Van Rompuy - Moureaux sur la Belgique (entretien)
Luminet, O. (10.11.20). Une mémoire pas si collective. DailyScience.
2ème guerre mondiale - transmission familiale des souvenirs - projet Transmemo : Olivier Luminet: Wilfried Magazine n°3
Luminet, O. (2016). Emotions, ressassement, attitudes et identités: le cocktail explosif.
Luminet, O. (13.12.19). La mémoire familiale de la guerre 40-45 touche à sa fin. Le Soir.
Cordonnier, A, & Rasmont, T. (04.10.2019). LN24 MIDI. Une petite histoire va avoir un impact pendant très longtemps
Recent communications
Intergenerational transmission of memories related to historical facts
Presentation slides - 01/2023
