| Abstract | Tying into Halbwachs's theory of the social framing of memory and the Freudian conception of repression, the authors introduce the concept of non-memory. It is broader than the categories of forgetting or repression, for it also encompasses ignorance caused by different types of secrets, taboos, and falsifications of history. The key here is the concealment of certain "shameful" events by older generations or even contemporary, well-informed individuals--witnesses, politicians, journalists--in the name of personal interest or the interest of a broader collectivity. The centerpiece of analysis is the nation, a collectivity based primarily on a selective, honorific memory, yet at the same time we argue most effective at producing non-memory.
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