Sociology of Collective Memory: Paradigmatic or Nonparadigmatic Field of Study?

The present paper is an attempt to find out whether collective memory is a paradigmatic or nonparadigmatic field of study. Therefore, while introducing the collective memory field of study as a new approach in the social sciences, attempts have been made to offer a systematic assessment of the weak and strong points of the theoretical and practical approaches that have been employed in this field. In this regard, Ritzer’s paradigm theory has been used as a theoretical framework. Hence, in the first place, the available literature related to collective memory studies and the four constituting components of a paradigm, i.e. (exemplar, image of the subject matter, theories and methods) were reviewed. In the next step, the hypothesis of some scholars who argue that this field of study is nonparadigmatic were assessed. Then, a new formulation of the theoretical developments, methodological strategies and challenges that this field faces in its progress was presented. Finally, concomitant with these challenges, some suggestions have been made to face the said challenges in order to maximize the theoretical cohesion of the collective memory studies.