Memory, social practices and identity in an urban context

Abstract

This article addresses the construction of memory as an essential element for human condition. To speak of memory is to speak of the human present once memory enables people not only to situate themselves in time but also to belong to a space, thus, the formation of either collective or individual identities is associated to the memory. Memory refers to the past, but is constantly reformulated in present according to individual’s available knowledge. It is therefore, work, as it needs this constant reconstruction of the past from the present references (Bosi, 1994). Thus, the core objectives of this article are: i) to understand how physical support becomes an essential reference for social practices and affirmation of identity, and ii) to discuss the preservation as instrument of power, from the understanding of production conditions and permanence of physical support. For such, this article seeks to recover and critically review the basic literature on the theme of memory construction related to the constructed types. As a result, there was an attempt to corroborate to the repositioning of belonging and citizenship values, including the own concept of heritage, adding to the study of permanence, the understanding of symbolic struggles involving them.