Keywords
social representations
history
colonialism
decolonization
How to Cite
Abstract
In this paper, we aim to reflect on social memory and the decolonial challenges of the present by analysing a study on representations of historical personalities carried out in Brazil and Portugal. We conducted a survey in which participants were asked to freely evoke people or groups they considered to be the most important in national history, and to what extent they considered their impact on the country to be positive or negative. 260 people took part: 96 Brazilians (M= 34.6; SD = 11.8), mostly men (55.2%) and 164 Portuguese (M= 19.92; SD = 2.66), mostly women (78%). Among the results, we observed that there was not a single woman - androcentrism - among the 10 most evoked personalities in each country. We also observed a focus on politics, with an emphasis on individual agency to the detriment of collective agency - solipsism. This is particularly evident in the data collected in Portugal, where the emphasis is on kings, rulers, navigators and writers. Personalities associated with the ‘Discoveries’ were frequent, but there was almost no mention of personalities related to decolonisation. In the data from Brazil, on the other hand, ‘Indigenous’ and ‘Afro-descendants’ were among the most evoked. We discussed the implications of ‘rememberings’ and ‘forgettings’ for social memory and the decolonisation of thought as a crucial and particularly challenging task.
References
Adichie, C. N. (2009). O perigo da história única. Companhia das Letras.
Araújo, M. (2020). Os “compridos narizes” dos portugueses: Expo’98, manuais escolares e história em multiperspectividade. Revista Língua-Lugar, 249, 66-85. https://doi.org/10.34913/journals/lingua-lugar.2020.e208
Balbé, A. D., Lins, L., & Cabecinhas, R. (2024). “Não tem como a gente fugir do que nos ensinam”: Debates sobre memória pública e educação com estudantes do ensino secundário português. Revista Brasileira de História, 44(1). https://doi.org/10.15448/1980-864X.2024.1.45807
Bobowik, M., Valentim, J. P., & Licata, L. (2018). Introduction to the Special Issue: Colonial past and intercultural relations. International Journal of Intercultural Relations, 62, 1-12. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijintrel.2017.10.003
Bouchat, P., Cabecinhas, R., Licata, L., Charton, M., Chryssochoou, X., Delouvée, S., ... & Hilton, D. (2023). Social representations of European history by the European youth: A cross-country comparison. Journal of Social and Political Psychology, 11(1). https://doi.org/10.5964/jspp.9805
Butera, F., Vernet, J.-P., & Vala, J. (2017). Influencing people’s (negative) attitudes towards active minorities: The case of feminist movements. In Majority and minority influence (pp. 123-140). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315666648-8
Brasil, J. A., & Cabecinhas, R. (2017). Social representations of Latin American history and (post)colonial relations in Brazil, Chile, and Mexico. Journal of Social and Political Psychology, 5(2), 537-557. https://doi.org/10.5964/jspp.v5i2.701
Cabecinhas, R. (2023). A memória da nação na era planetária: Passados e futuros em debate. Análise Social, 58(249), 766-788. https://www.jstor.org/stable/27281277
Cabecinhas, R. (2018a). Quem quer ser apagada? Memória coletiva e assimetria simbólica. In C. Nogueira & J. M. Oliveira (Eds.), Lígia Amâncio: O género como ação sobre o mundo (pp. 113-132). CIS-IUL. http://hdl.handle.net/1822/58927
Cabecinhas, R. (2018b). Memórias (des)alinhadas: Representações sociais da história e comunicação intercultural. Universidade do Minho. https://hdl.handle.net/1822/62836
Cabecinhas, R. (2019). Luso(A)fonias: Memórias cruzadas sobre o colonialismo português. Estudos Ibero-Americanos, 45(2), 16-25. https://doi.org/10.15448/1980-864X.2019.2.32857
Cabecinhas, R., & Abadia, L. (2013). Preamble - Narratives and social memory: Dialogic challenges. In R. Cabecinhas & L. Abadia (Eds.), Narratives and social memory: Theoretical and methodological approaches (pp. 5-9). CECS.
Cabecinhas, R., & Feijó, J. (2010). Collective memories of Portuguese colonial action in Africa: Representations of the colonial past among Mozambicans and Portuguese youths. International Journal of Conflict and Violence, 4(1), 28-44.
Cabecinhas, R., Lima, M. E. O., & Chaves, A. M. (2006). Identidades nacionais e memória social: Hegemonia e polémica nas representações sociais da história. In J. Miranda & M. I. João (Eds.), Identidades nacionais em debate (pp. 67-92). Celta.
Cabecinhas, R., & Nhaga, N. (2008). Memórias coloniais e diálogos pós-coloniais: Guiné-Bissau e Portugal. In R. Cabecinhas & L. Cunha (Eds.), Comunicação intercultural: Perspectivas, dilemas e desafios (pp. 109-132). Campo das Letras.
Cupata, J. L. (2022). Representações sociais da história de África no sistema de ensino angolano (Tese de doutoramento). Universidade do Minho.
Doise, W., & Valentim, J. P. (2015). Levels of analysis in social psychology. Elsevier Ltd.
Freel, S. H., & Bilali, R. (2022). Putting the past into action: How historical narratives shape participation in collective action. European Journal of Social Psychology, 52(1), 204-222. https://doi.org/10.1002/ejsp.2813
Gutman, Y., & Wüstenberg, J. (2023). Introduction: The activist turn in memory studies. In Y. Gutman & J. Wüstenberg (Eds.), The Routledge handbook of memory activism (pp. 5-15). Routledge.
Henriques, I. C. (2020). A descolonização da história: Portugal, a África e a desconstrução de mitos historiográficos. Caleidoscópio.
Hilton, D. J., & Liu, J. H. (2017). History as the narrative of a people: From function to structure and content. Memory Studies, 10(3), 297-309. https://doi.org/10.1177/1750698017701612
Hakoköngäs, E., & Sakki, I. (2016). Visualized collective memories: Social representations of history in images found in Finnish history textbooks. Journal of Community & Applied Social Psychology, 26(6), 496-517. https://doi.org/10.1002/casp.2276
Licata, L., Khan, S. S., Lastrego, S., Cabecinhas, R., Valentim, J. P., & Liu, J. H. (2018). Social representations of colonialism in Africa and in Europe: Structure and relevance for contemporary intergroup relations. International Journal of Intercultural Relations, 62, 68-79. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijintrel.2017.05.004
Licata, L., & Klein, O. (2005). Regards croisés sur un passé commun: Anciens colonisés et anciens coloniaux face à l’action belge au Congo. In M. Sanchez-Mazas & L. Licata (Eds.), L'Autre: Regards psychosociaux (pp. 241-277). Presses Universitaires de Grenoble.
Licata, L. & Volpato, C. (2010). Introduction: Collective memories of colonial violence. International Journal of Conflict and Violence, 4(1), 4-10. https://doi.org/10.4119/ijcv-2811
Lins, L., Brasil, J. A., & Cabecinhas, R. (2024). “A história do meu país”: Reflexões sobre a memória social e os futuros do passado nas narrativas de jovens portugueses. Revista Crítica de Ciências Sociais, 133, 97-120. https://doi.org/10.4000/11pr6
Liu, J. H., Goldstein-Hawes, R., Hilton, D. J., Huang, L., Gastardo-Conaco, C., Dresler-Hawke, E., … Hidaka, Y. (2005). Social representations of events and people in world history across twelve cultures. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 36(2), 171-191. https://doi.org/10.1177/0022022104272900
Liu, J. H., & Hilton, D. (2005). How the past weighs on the present: Towards a social psychology of histories. British Journal of Social Psychology, 44(4), 537-556. https://doi.org/10.1348/014466605X27162
Liu, J. H., Páez, D., Slawuta, P., Cabecinhas, R., Techio, E. M., Kokdemir, D., & Zlobina, A. (2009). Representing world history in the 21st century: The impact of 9/11, the Iraq War, and the nation-state on dynamics of collective remembering. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 40(4), 667-692. https://doi.org/10.1177/0022022109335557
Makanju, D., Livingstone, A. G., & Sweetman, J. (2023). How group members appraise collective history: Appraisal dimensions of collective history and their role in in-group engagement. Journal of Social and Political Psychology, 11(1), 229-246. https://doi.org/10.5964/jspp.6355
Mateus, K. S., & Pereira, C. R. (2023). System justification in the social explanation of the violence against minoritized groups. Revista Interamericana de Psicología/Interamerican Journal of Psychology, 57(3). https://doi.org/10.30849/ripijp.v57i3.1743
Mendes, J., Silva, E., & Cabecinhas, R. (2010). Memória colectiva e identidade nacional: Jovens angolanos face à história de Angola. Anuário Internacional de Comunicação Lusófona, 8, 206-221.
Mbembe, A. (2015). Decolonizing knowledge and the question of the archive [Palestra]. Platform for Experimental Collaborative Ethnography. https://worldpece.org/content/mbembe-achille-2015-“decolonizing-knowledge-and-question-archive”-africa-country
Mignolo, W. D., & Walsh, C. E. (2018). On decoloniality: Concepts, analytics, praxis. Duke University Press.
Moscovici, S. (2004). La psychanalyse, son image et son public. Presses Universitaires de France. (Obra originalmente publicada en 1961).
Moscovici, S. (1988). Notes towards a description of social representations. European Journal of Social Psychology, 18(3), 211-250.
Páez, D., Bobowik, M., De Guissmé, L., Liu, J. H., & Licata, L. (2016). Mémoire collective et représentations sociales de l’histoire. In G. Lo Monaco, S. Delouvée, & P. Rateu (Eds.), Les représentations sociales: Théories, méthodes et applications (pp. 539-552). De Boeck.
Pennebaker, J. W., Páez, D., Deschamps, J.-C., Rentfrow, J., Davis, M., Techio, E. M., … Zubieta, E. (2006). The social psychology of history: Defining the most important events of world history. Psicología Política, 32, 15-32.
Quijano, A. (2005). Colonialidade do poder, eurocentrismo e América Latina. In E. Lander (Ed.), A colonialidade do saber: Eurocentrismo e ciências sociais. Perspectivas latino-americanas (pp. 227-278). Colección Sur Sur, CLACSO.
Ribeiro, A. S., & Ribeiro, M. C. (2016). Geometrias da memória: Configurações pós-coloniais. Afrontamento.
Sá, C. P., Oliveira, D. C., & Prado, L. A. (2004). As memórias colectivas do descobrimento do Brasil: Imagem comum e juízos diferenciados nas populações portuguesa e brasileira. Psicologia, 17(2), 275-291. https://doi.org/10.17575/rpsicol.v17i2.448
Soares, C., & Jesuíno, J. C. (2004). Memória social e representações sobre o descobrimento do Brasil: Análise dos manuais portugueses de história. Psicologia, 17(2), 321-337. https://doi.org/10.17575/rpsicol.v17i2.451
Tajfel, H. (1982). Comportamento intergrupo e psicologia social da mudança. In Mudança social e psicologia social (pp. 13-24). Livros Horizonte.
Techio, E. M., Lukelo, H., Alencar, J., & Costa, R. (en prensa). Representação social do passado: Um estudo sobre a memória histórica em estudantes universitários.
Vala, J., & Saint-Maurice, A. (2004). Representações sociais sobre o descobrimento do Brasil: Os actores e a colonização. Psicologia, 17(2), 385-404. https://doi.org/10.17575/rpsicol.v17i2.456
Valentim, J. P., & Miguel, I. (2018). Colonialism in Portuguese history textbooks: A diachronic psychosocial study. In K. van Nieuwenhuyse & J. P. Valentim (Eds.), The colonial past in history textbooks. Historical and social psychological perspectives (pp. 133-154). Information Age Publishing.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
Copyright (c) 2025 Luiza Lins, Rosa Cabecinhas, Marcus Eugênio Oliveira Lima, Joaquim Pires Valentim, Elza Maria Techio