Historical memory, cultural construction and cosmopolitanism

Abstract

This paper will investigate the construction of historical memory and differing definitions of culture, conveyance of meaning through a particular culture and across time. The analysis of these topics is directed toward understanding the impulses towards cosmopolitanism and nationalism. There is a connection between them in that the reciprocal interlinking between historical memory which is constructed through individuals’ connections to mass media, and culture, which is also similarly constructed inform a given citizen’s disposition towards a more insular nationalism or a more inclusive cosmopolitanism. In lived reality, both impulses exist, and while nationalism is the more powerful construct, cosmopolitanism presents a clear challenge.