Rethinking collective memory in a colonial present

This article is a literature review of the post-colonial and decolonial takes on some of the core debates of the study of collective memory. Zubrzycki and Woźny argue that the three main anchors of this study have been focused on its impact on creating national identity, reckoning with collective trauma, and collective memory’s movement beyond nation-state borders. However, what remains persistently minimal in our main conceptualizations of these anchors is the role of colonialism in their development. What also has been a significant oversight in our theorizing of collective memory and its transnationalism is the inclusion of all parts of the globe in our analysis, specifically the inclusion of often neglected perspectives of collective memory from other regions like the Amazonia, the Caribbean, and the African continent. Taking postcolonial and decolonial approaches allow us to rethink our understanding of nation-state borders, solidarity around trauma, and forgetting.